Central Africans just want Aristide to go

by Christian Panika

Monday, March 8, 2004

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AFP): Central Africans questioned about the presence of Haiti's ousted leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide agree: he has to go. Now.

His stay was "beginning to cause a stir and could create disagreement that would not be useful", said one woman working in a bank.

Several opposition parties have come out against Aristide's stay.

When the 50-year-old former Roman Catholic priest arrived here after fleeing violent rebellion in his Caribbean homeland, the Central African Republic (CAR) officially stressed he was merely in transit.

Six days later he was still around, and doubts were mounting in the capital Bangui, where locals find their poverty-stricken, landlocked and coup-prone country has enough to worry about without also having a controversial foreign ex-president on their hands.

"Why does the government continue to take care of Aristide but complain about his behavior? He has to go now," said Antoine, a taxi driver.

Aristide has not won himself friends here with complaints that he feels like a prisoner in Bangui and was the victim of a US-orchestrated "political kidnapping".

"These disagreements are going to drag us down once again into arguments which, in turn, could wake up the sleeping demons of division," said Adrienne, a bank employee.

"He has got to leave as soon as possible."

A storekeeper, who declined to give her name, complained about bankrolling Aristide's stay.

"He, his wife and brother-in-law, and bodyguards are all being housed at the presidential palace. Who is feeding them?" she asked.

"Isn't it the presidency, using state funds? All this, while government employees suffer, there's no money and while we can't even sell our goods! If only he would leave!"

The CAR government announced it would make "a very important communication on the presence of former president Aristide" Sunday afternoon that could shed light on Aristide's future.

Observers have said the government gave Aristide temporary asylum after coming under pressure from foreign powers, probably in exchange for badly needed aid and international recognition of its post-coup government.

State coffers have been emptied by years of high-level corruption and political instability, and the current government of President Francois Bozize came to power after a coup on March 15 last year in which elected leader Ange-Felix Patasse was ousted.

Bozize's government has not been able to pay civil servants for months, sparking strikes by teachers, health workers and others that have crippled the country.

But several CAR opposition parties have come out against Aristide's stay, saying no international aid was guaranteed, and some citizens say even the money is not worth harboring an alleged tyrant.

"When we made the decision to oust Patasse, it was a way for us to oppose dictatorships and dictators," said Justin, manager of an Internet cafe.

"Even under pressure from foreign powers, the authorities should have refused to harbor Aristide. We think it's time for him to leave."

Jean-Paul, a civil servant, agreed the promise of aid was not worth it.

"It's not because we might get some sort of foreign aid that we should sell our soul and bend over backwards until we make a pact with the devil," he said.

"Aristide must leave, full stop. He's a dictator, a criminal, and we can't keep him here with us. He is tarnishing the image of the Central African Republic," Jean-Paul added.

Since its independence from France in 1960, the CAR has lived through a series of coups and some brutal regimes, and its three-and-a-half million people have little sympathy for a man now considered a tyrant on the run.

One teacher, Paterne, voiced the common sentiment: "Why are we killing ourselves to treat Aristide like a prince, when he has done his people wrong? There's nothing for him here, his presence is an insult."

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