Armed opposition forces overrun the northern half of Haiti and prepares for a final showdown with loyalists to President Aristide in and around the capital, writes Gamal Nkrumah The embattled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appealed to the international community for a military intervention to save Haitian democracy. But behind the façade of misleading language and misguided concepts of good governance lies a Caribbean island-nation crippled by war and want. There is, of course, more to Haiti than violent power struggles: Narcotics, the worst HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Western Hemisphere and appalling poverty top the list. The current uprising in Haiti reveals both the depth of the country's crisis and the ineffectual nature of the interventionist policies of the United States ostensibly intended to reverse Haiti's adverse political and economic fortunes. The current spate of political violence in Haiti comes barely a decade after a 1994 US invasion restored Aristide to power. Washington's military intervention miserably failed to introduce serious changes to Haiti's political landscape. Under Aristide, Haiti turned away from the path of democracy and human rights, and moved towards oppression and authoritarianism. "We need the presence of the international community as soon as possible," Aristide pleaded as the insurrectionists closed in on the capital. It is now a matter of urgency that his police forces be strengthened, the beleaguered Haitian president warned on Monday. Aristide has his constituents to answer to. They are the ruling clique of Haitians with vested interests to defend and who have no qualms about praising Aristide's failed policies. The insurrectionists, led by the former military elites that were put down by the US a decade ago, swept down swiftly from their strongholds in the north of the country towards the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in the south. Latest reports indicate that the insurrectionists have taken up positions outside Port-au-Prince. As always, Haiti's poor are the first casualties of the fighting. In a powerful show of force, the insurrectionists easily scattered the pro-Aristide Haitian police force in northern cities like Gonaives and Cap Haitien. But Aristide boasted that they will be met with stiff resistance if they dared enter the capital. He feared, though, that a blood-bath will ensue. Aristide described the armed opposition groups threatening his government as "those killers". Haiti's second largest city, Cap Haitien, has now been taken by the insurrectionist forces. Foreign residents and pro-Aristide officials fled the city of 500,000 people before the scattered resistance the police mustered was brutally crushed. Haiti's non-violent opposition quickly distanced themselves from the armed opposition groups. "We refuse to have contacts with the rebels as well as with Aristide," Mischa Gaillard, spokesperson for the non-violent opposition coalition told reporters on Monday. "We don't want to be tainted with any suspicion of condoning violence," Gaillard explained. It is still unclear who exactly leads the insurrectionists. It is widely suspected that renegades of the Haitian armed forces disbanded in 1994 by Aristide with American military assistance are behind the recent uprising. Guy Philippe, a leader of the insurrectionists in Cap Haitien, told reporters in the city that once the capital is captured, he will restore the disbanded Haitian army. He also said that he would not support the installment of a military junta or dictatorship to rule the country. Buteur Metayer, leader of the Gonaives uprising, in turn promptly declared himself president of a liberated Haiti. The self-styled leader claims a power base in the rugged northern part of the Caribbean Island. But, the United States and the entire international community is very reluctant to condone the insurrectionists and any violent usurpation of power. At the same time, Washington and the international community have also not absolved Aristide of partial responsibility for the sorry state of Haiti today. The Haitian president has an appalling record of human rights violations and the international community has not given its stamp of approval to the disputed election results in 2000 which gave Aristide another six-year term. Reacting to the questionable election procedure, international donors froze million of dollars in aid. France and the United States are the two Western nations with the strongest cultural, historical and economic relations with Haiti, with each having some 20,000 citizens mainly residing in Port- au-Prince. Eight per cent of illegal drugs in the US come through Haiti and the lawless Caribbean island-nation has become a favourite launching pad for drug traffickers aiming at the US narcotics market, the world's largest. "You begin to lose the rule of law, and you begin to lose the very premise of a democracy," warned Robert Charles, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs. The US also fears an influx of Haitian refugees due to the geographical proximity of the war-torn Caribbean island-nation to the coast of Florida. In 1994, the US sent 2,000 troops to Haiti to stop the exodus of refugees fleeing their homeland to escape the brutal military dictatorship in place between 1991-94. On Monday, the US dispatched 50 marines ostensibly to protect the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince. While France has shied away from direct military intervention in its former Caribbean colony, Paris is acutely conscious of its historical bond to Haiti. Haiti was its first colony to declare independence, and French President Jacques Chirac this week reaffirmed France's readiness to send a peace-keeping force to Haiti if approved by the United Nations. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin urged the Haitian insurgents to accept a peace plan that will leave Aristide as president but with much diminished powers. However, on Tuesday, the opposition turned down the US- sponsored plan, insisting that Aristide step down. Human rights groups and international humanitarian relief and aid agencies warn of the serious consequences of the fighting in Haiti, while simultaneously cautioning against international military intervention. A report on Haiti was recently released jointly by several international humanitarian agencies including Oxfam and ActionAid. It painted a grim picture of the Haitian political, economic and social scenes. The joint statement on Haiti spotlighted the looming humanitarian crisis in the country. It also warned against the dangers of foreign powers intervening militarily in Haiti. "Any military intervention in the current crisis would not be sustainable if the structural causes of the decaying Haitian social situation were not addressed -- notably a social structure which is extremely unequal and polarised," the joint statement read. The statement also pointed to the root causes of the conflict in Haiti -- the "increasing poverty and social exclusion of the great majority of the population from the spheres of power." Four million Haitians, half of the island-nation's population, have "insecure access" to food supplies. But the statement also stressed that food aid "has traditionally had adverse impacts on the systems and structures of production" in recipient countries. "We reaffirm that international solidarity with the Haitian people must be characterised by the respect for national sovereignty and the right of the people to self-determination," the statement read. It also warned against the exportation or trafficking in arms," to any of the warring factions in Haiti.
