It seems he's still a political force on the island; so much so that his supporters are often killed for demanding his return, and then their family members put his picture on the bodies of their loved ones.
Back in 1994, President Clinton hailed Aristide's return as "the triumph of freedom over fear". Certainly the mean wasn't ideal; corruption and violence were common aspects of his regime, just as they have been for every Haitian government since the 19th century. But he was democratically elected, his alleged crimes are nothing next to the proven crimes of the gangsters running the country now, and the military junta that had held sway over Haiti for so long was finally broken. So why aren't we rushing to help him again?
Aristide currently lives in exile in South Sfrica. When asked why he lost American support, he offers three basic reasons: "Privatization, privatization, and privatization."
Back in 1994, when Aristide had already been overthrown by a US-backed coup in 1991, Clinton agreed to lend the exiled leader military support so long as he promised to embark on a policy of 'free trade' and sell off Haiti's publicly-owned utilities. Aristide swallowed most of the deal, but refused to simply privatize everything without the approval of parliament. When parliament declined to grant that permission entirely, mandating anti-trust legislation and providing each worker with a certain amount of stock, Washington went berserk. $500 million in promised loans were cut off, and money was poured into opposition groups, ultimately culminating in the February 2004 coup that drove Aristide from power again.
What has replaced him is chaos and brutality that Papa Doc would've been proud of. Despite the constant attacks, murders, extortions, and myriad other threats, the protests remain strong. Even today, crowds of Haitians fill the slums of Port-au-Prince calling for Aristide's return, protesting the privatization scheme and attackiong the proposed sham elections. Robert Noriega, assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, has said that these pro-Aristide groups are receiving their orders directly from the man himself. Aristide disagrees, saying:
The people are bright, the people are intelligent, the people are courageous. They know that two plus two does not equal five.Maybe; but have you seen our test scores, Jean-Bertrand? Math has never been America's strong suit.
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