The Return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide

The former head of state has joined discussions on the political crisis

Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has personally taken part in at least one call with Garry Conille surrounding the political crisis in recent weeks, AyiboPost learned from two sources with knowledge of the situation.

Aristide met with Conille prior to his replacement by businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as head of government on November 10.

Another scheduled meeting with the leader of the Lavalas party ultimately did not take place.

This engagement marked Aristide’s return to the arena of power in Haiti.

He was removed from the presidency in 1991 by a military coup and again in 2004 under pressure from armed groups.

In these exchanges, described as “cordial,” Aristide spoke in favor of the Prime Minister’s office coexisting with the Transitional Presidential Council, according to a source familiar with the situation.

“He is very involved in recent events,” the source added.

It’s unclear if Aristide’s position aligns with that of Leslie Voltaire, an urban planner appointed by the party to the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT).

Voltaire – who has served as Council president for a month – could not be reached for comment.

“Fanmi Lavalas had nothing to do with Garry Conille’s removal; that was a decision of the Transitional Presidential Council,” Jodson Dirogène, a party spokesperson, told AyiboPost.

Dirogène declined to say whether Voltaire’s actions are endorsed by Fanmi Lavalas. “Like the people, Fanmi Lavalas is waiting for security,” Dirogène stated.

AyiboPost contacted two party leaders, Maryse Narcisse and Pacha Vorbe.

Narcisse, who attended Fils-Aimé’s inauguration, made no comment, and Vorbe did not respond.

Since his return from exile in 2011, Aristide has focused primarily on activities related to his foundation and university. He campaigned for the party during the 2015 presidential election. Narcisse, Fanmi Lavalas’ candidate, received 7% of the vote with 108,844 votes out of the 1.67 million recorded.

There is no indication yet whether or not the former president, known as a skilled orator, will soon return to engaging in politics actively. AyiboPost was unable to reach him before publication.

Leslie Voltaire’s appointment as president of the CPT brings Fanmi Lavalas to the forefront of the national political scene.

Fanmi Lavalas controlled the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communications under the Conille government, according spokesperson Dirogène.

The former prime minister oversaw four ministries himself: economy and finance, foreign affairs, justice, and interior. The other 11 cabinet positions were distributed among political parties.

Fanmi Lavalas remains open to leading other ministries “should the need arise,” Dirogène added, saying he is “comfortable” with the distribution of public functions among political parties.

Leslie Voltaire’s appointment as president of the CPT brings Fanmi Lavalas to the forefront of the national political scene.

***

Garry Conille finds himself ousted from the primature for a second time, following his initial brief four-month tenure in 2012.

The country’s security situation worsened under his leadership, despite the presence of an international police force led by Kenya since June.

For months, Conille and the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) had been at odds.

The Prime Minister publicly called for the resignation of three CPT members who were implicated in a corruption scandal. These three members, who hold voting rights, along with five others, signed the resolution for Conille’s dismissal. A source close to the CPT described the former Prime Minister’s actions as reckless.

For months, Conille and the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) had been at odds.

« Conille was dismissed because he didn’t respect or collaborate with the council members, » the source added.

One contentious point was the government’s foray into foreign policy, traditionally a presidential prerogative.

In September, Brazilian security agents barred Leslie Voltaire, one of the nine presidential advisors, entry to a meeting room in New York where the Haitian government was meeting Brazil’s president.

Voltaire denounced this as a “diplomatic coup” orchestrated by the government, warning that « heads would roll. »

Voltaire was also critical of certain positions taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since he assumed the presidency of the CPT on October 7, 2024, there have been no council meetings.

In five months, Conille’s government claims to have trained 1,200 young people in the police academy and military bases, and acquired a helicopter.

Efforts were also made to increase the number of armored vehicles and weaponry for law enforcement.

The government implemented anti-corruption measures like banning cash transactions in public administration and recalling diplomats suspected of embezzlement.

In meetings with commerce chambers, private sector members requested reductions in tax burdens, duty exemptions, and lower customs fees on widely consumed products.

Conille’s government did not respond to these requests, according to a source close to the matter.

In his November 11 inauguration speech, Fils-Aimé—former chamber of commerce official and the third Prime Minister in three years—made “economic recovery” a priority, alongside security and the organization of elections.

The entrepreneur and former Senate candidate in 2015 promised “active state support” for job-creating sectors.

« Negative growth is perpetuated by the countless businesses forced to close or operate at minimal capacity, » Fils-Aimé declared in the presence of several diplomats.

A political analyst, requesting anonymity due to security concerns, predicts a “resurgence of the private sector, which will pressure the government to avoid paying customs and taxes.”

This analyst notes that smuggling benefiting the private sector costs Haiti’s government about half a billion dollars annually.

Conille’s dismissal has divided the political class.

“These power struggles aren’t for the people,” Ardouin Esther Louis Charles, a leader within the Rally of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP), told AyiboPost.

[the] resurgence of the private sector, which will pressure the government to avoid paying customs and taxes.

“The real goal is to control money while leaving the vast majority in poverty and ignorance,” he said, calling the distribution of privileges and state positions by political leaders “criminal.”

These practices serve as a source of funding for some parties in the lead-up to elections, added Louis Charles, who acknowledged Aristide’s influence on recent political events.

It remains unclear if the international community will continue funding the Kenyan mission.

The United States, the largest donor, has already contributed over $300 million to the initiative. However, Donald Trump’s recent presidential victory may alter the course.

***

Garry Conille acknowledged the appointment of Fils-Aimé and extended his “best wishes for success in carrying out this mission” in a message on Twitter on November 12. “In this critical moment, unity and solidarity are essential for our country,” Conille added.

Well before his departure, Conille, with support from legal experts, deemed the CPT’s decision to dismiss him “illegal.”

Haiti’s constitution grants parliament the authority to remove governments, but the country has had no democratically elected officials since 2022.

The April 3 agreement signed among stakeholders to establish the transition includes the creation of a Government Action Oversight Body (OCAG). This body is intended to evaluate the performance of ministers before a reshuffle is decided.

However, the agreement hasn’t been published in the official gazette, and the OCAG has yet to be constituted.

The decree creating the CPT does not outline any procedure for replacing the Prime Minister.

Attempts to reconcile the two sides have failed.

The Volontariat pour le développement d’Haïti (VDH), an NGO founded in 1988, organized several separate meetings and two joint sessions between the CPT and the Prime Minister’s office in an effort to find a solution to the crisis.

At the latest meeting on November 7, facilitated by VDH, Fritz Alphonse Jean (designated under the Montana Accord) and Voltaire represented the CPT. Prime Minister Conille attended alone, according to Arnoux Descardes, facilitator and executive director of the NGO.

The presidential advisors requested a “fresh start” through a cabinet reshuffle, Descardes reported.

The former Prime Minister agreed in principle to a reshuffle but insisted on establishing the OCAG first.

The parties met again the next day at a weekly working meeting between the government and the CPT.

VDH facilitators were absent from this meeting, which only deepened the divide between the former Prime Minister and the Council.

“We were close to finding common ground to move forward,” Descardes told AyiboPost. “There are often too many complications over simple issues,” he observed.

Entities represented within the CPT considered issuing a statement on Conille’s dismissal last weekend. Ultimately, the statement was not signed due to disagreements among stakeholders.

According to a draft document obtained by AyiboPost, the potential signatories intended to declare that “any Presidential Council resolution aimed at dismissing a Prime Minister, without our prior agreement, contradicts the foundational texts of the Transition.”

The political groups planned to propose an “agreement with both branches of the executive and the international community, particularly the Caribbean Community, as a suitable solution to the current impasse.”

These groups do not appear to have participated in selecting the new Prime Minister.

“No sector participated in this choice,” Jacques Ted Saint-Dic, head of the Montana Accord Monitoring Bureau (BSA), told AyiboPost, describing the CPT’s action as a “coup.”

Most sectors lack authority over their CPT representatives, according to three sources involved in the discussions.

A faction of the December 21 agreement refuses to recognize Louis Gerald Gilles as the coalition’s representative, calling for his replacement.

A former Fanmi Lavalas senator in 2000, Dr. Gilles has been cited in a report for corruption.

According to Saint-Dic, Fritz Alphonse Jean, the Montana Accord representative, has had no contact with his sector since June 7, 2024.

Most sectors lack authority over their CPT representatives, according to three sources involved in the discussions.

This disconnect came after a request to return funds amounting to several million gourdes, allocated to presidential advisors as “intelligence fees.”

Fritz Alphonse Jean, who was appointed Central Bank governor by Aristide in 2003, did not comment when contacted via WhatsApp.

While negotiations over ministerial control continue among CPT members, gang violence persists.

Armed attacks in Solino and Tabarre since October 17 have displaced 12,619 people. In Arcahaie, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that 21,770 people have been displaced due to violence.

Two commercial planes were struck by gunfire near Toussaint Louverture Airport this week, prompting U.S. authorities to suspend commercial flights to Haiti for at least a month.

“We are heading toward catastrophe,” Saint-Dic observed. “The population will continue to be massacred, and the economy and remaining state institutions will be destroyed.”

***

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, now 71 years old, entered Haiti’s political scene in the 1980s.

A former Catholic priest, his sermons against dictatorship and for social justice led to at least four assassination attempts orchestrated by operatives of the Jean-Claude Duvalier regime.

A decade later, after the dictatorship fell, he ran for elections. Aristide won with 67% of the votes, the highest margin in the country’s modern history.

Eight months after he took office, soldiers, some directly involved in drug trafficking, overthrew his government.

The former president, known for his sharp critiques of imperialism, was brought back to Haiti by American soldiers.

He was re-elected in 2000 in a controversial election.

Three years later, an armed rebellion and popular protests forced Aristide to flee the country for the second time.

The legacy of the former head of state remains controversial.

During his brief first term, Aristide took action against members of the economic elite accused of corruption and launched investigations into human rights violations.

However, the United Nations imposed a trade embargo on Haiti after the coup, aiming to pressure the responsible military leaders to relinquish power.

This embargo contributed to Haiti’s economic collapse by causing factories and assembly industries in Port-au-Prince to shut down.

As a condition for his return to Haiti, Aristide had to agree to implement a set of “neoliberal” economic programs required by the country’s partners, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

These programs, namely supported by René Préval, his former prime minister who became president in 1996, required the state to lower tariffs for foreign businesses, reduce public services, privatize some public companies, and offer tax exemptions to private capital.

The implementation of these measures decimated local production, forcing the country to import goods that were once produced in Haiti.

The United States was a major beneficiary of these policies.

However, the United Nations imposed a trade embargo on Haiti after the coup, aiming to pressure the responsible military leaders to relinquish power.

At least one state company, the Minoterie d’Haïti, was acquired by American companies in 1997.

Haiti also became one of the top destinations for American rice, with imports now valued at $200 million per year.

Until the 1970s, Haiti was self-sufficient in rice, but cheap, subsidized American rice contributed to the collapse of local production.

In 2010, former U.S. President Bill Clinton publicly apologized for the destruction of Haiti’s local rice industry due to policies imposed by his administration.

“It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake,” said the former Democratic president.

During his second term, Aristide initiated a public debate on the restitution to Haiti of a ransom paid to France from 1825 in exchange for recognizing the country’s independence.

This amount is now estimated between $21 and $115 billion, according to prominent economists consulted by the New York Times.

The former president personally encouraged citizens to invest in cooperatives in the early 2000s.

Approximately 200,000 families lost nearly 17 billion gourdes when these businesses later collapsed.

Moreover, the former president is accused of arming young men from poor neighborhoods to maintain his power and attack his political opponents.

Most of these groups, responsible for numerous killings, gradually transformed into gangs that terrorize the country today.

Links between the former president’s circle and drug trafficking raise questions.

In March 2015, Oriel Jean, Aristide’s former chief of security, was assassinated in Delmas under unclear circumstances.

In 2005, Jean admitted to being involved in drug trafficking and was sentenced to three years in prison for money laundering. He helped U.S. authorities convict several Haitians and Colombians responsible for transporting large quantities of cocaine to the United States.

Aristide’s former police chief, Jean Nesly Lucien, was also convicted of drug trafficking by the United States in 2005, along with Rudy Therassan, a former police chief from 2001 to 2003.

The most notorious case remains that of Jacques Ketant, the most infamous drug trafficker in Haiti’s history.

Ketant began his career in the United States in the 1990s, recruiting airport employees to smuggle drugs from Haiti.

He narrowly escaped arrest in 1996 by disguising himself as a woman on a flight to Haiti.

His activities expanded upon his arrival in Haiti, and his network included police officers, politicians, and even respected professionals.

Between 2002 and 2003, Ketant admitted to shipping 2,250 kilos of cocaine to the United States, earning him a profit of 13 million dollars.

He narrowly escaped arrest in 1996 by disguising himself as a woman on a flight to Haiti.

According to a story published in Notes From the Last Testament by journalist Michael Deibert, Ketant and Aristide were close friends. The trafficker was even reportedly the godfather of the former president’s youngest daughter.

In 2003, Ketant was summoned to the national palace for a meeting—a month after an incident at Union School where his son and nephew were expelled. Ketant personally threatened the school staff.

The drug trafficker was arrested and handed over to U.S. authorities. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison, but his sentence was halved thanks to his cooperation with authorities, which led to the convictions of over a dozen other traffickers.

Aristide is a “drug lord,” Ketant told a federal judge during his sentencing, in remarks reported in the press.

According to Ketant, who was deported to Port-au-Prince in 2015, the former president “controlled the drug trade in Haiti. He turned the country into a narco-country.”

No court has convicted Aristide, and investigations into his alleged involvement in drug trafficking have not resulted in charges.

By Widlore Mérancourt

Jerôme Wendy Norestyl contributed to this report.

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