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Aristide Says He Wants to Return to Haiti

VOA News 20 January 2011

Haiti's deposed former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide says he wants to return from exile, days after former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier reappeared in the country after 25 years.

In a statement, Mr. Aristide said he is ready to go home at any time and hopes the governments of Haiti and of South Africa, where he lives in exile, will make that possible. He fled Haiti in 2004 during a popular revolt.

Duvalier denies presidential aspirations

Meanwhile, Mr. Duvalier has denied a remark by his lawyer, Reynold Georges, that he hopes to run for president. He said in a statement Wednesday that he formally denies all political statements, "vague or otherwise," that are attributed to him.

Authorities have confiscated Mr. Duvalier's expired passport. Since arriving in Haiti late Sunday, he has been charged with corruption, embezzlement and other abuses of power from his brutal 15-year rule.

In addition, a former U.N. spokesman and three other prominent Haitians have filed criminal complaints accusing Mr. Duvalier of crimes against humanity. It is not clear whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Mr. Duvalier for atrocities during his rule.

State Department reacts

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley responded to Mr. Aristide's remarks by saying the U.S. does not doubt the former president's desire to help his nation. But he said Haiti needs to focus on its future, not its past.

In 1990, Mr. Aristide became Haiti's first democratically elected president, but he was soon ousted in a military coup. He returned to power in 1994 through a U.S. military intervention and served until 1996. He was re-elected in 2000. His political party, Fanmi Lavalas, was not allowed to participate in the presidential elections in November.

The disputed election last year triggered protests and allegations of fraud, and a runoff planned for this past Sunday was postponed.

The Caribbean nation, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is still struggling to recover a year after an earthquake killed more than 200,000 people and left more than a million others homeless. Hundreds of thousands of people still live in tent cities, and many parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, remain in ruins. The country also is battling a deadly cholera epidemic.