Aristide supporters march in Haiti

Stevenson Jacobs

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Supporters of exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide marched through Haiti’s capital on Sunday, demanding the ousted leader’s return and accusing President René Préval of turning his back on his one-time ally.

Chants of “Préval is a traitor!” and “Bring Aristide home!” rose up as more than 1,000 protesters marched from the Port-au-Prince slum of Bel-Air to the heavily guarded National Palace, Préval’s official residence.

“We helped Préval get in power and now he has turned his back on us. We still love Aristide and we want him home,” Erick LeBon said during the march, which was called to mark Aristide’s 54th birthday.

A former slum priest-turned-president, Aristide was toppled during a 2004 rebel uprising. He was flown out of the country aboard a U.S.-supplied jet and later accused the United States of kidnapping him in a coup — a charge Washington denies.

Currently exiled in South Africa, Aristide has said he wants to return to Haiti but that the timing depends on Préval, his former prime minister and political protégé.

Préval, a champion of the poor overwhelmingly elected last year with help from Aristide supporters, has said Haiti’s constitution allows Aristide to return but has not taken steps to bring him back. The two men are no longer close and reportedly have not spoken in years.

No disturbances were reported during Sunday’s protest, monitored by blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police.

Aristide supporters periodically hold street marches calling for his return, but the events attract far fewer people since the departure last year of an unpopular U.S.-backed interim government appointed to replace Aristide.

(Associated Press)