Bloodshed marks the first Sunday since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s departure from Haiti. Five people are killed when a massive demonstration outside the presidential palace turns deadly, the crowd is fired on by people thought to be militant Aristide supporters. The march reportedly began when a few hundred people flanked a convoy of U.S. Marines, French soldiers and Haitian police outside a church in a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Six hours later, the crowd’s tally was in the thousands, a sea of people calling for a new government, a new army, and the arrest of Aristide’s prime minister.
It’s all made worse by the persistent belief among Haitians that Aristide was yanked from office by the U.S., which means substantially less credibility for the Marines standing between the pro and anti-Aristide factions.
Guests:
Ira Kurzban, U.S. Attorney for Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Ambassador Timothy Carney, Former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti
Sarah Sewall, Former United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping during the Clinton Administration
Paul Knox, correspondent for The Toronto Globe and Mail