I'll return to Haiti, vows ex-president

12 April 2012

THE former president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, said today he is ready to end his years of exile in South Africa and return home "at any time".

Four days ago Haiti was shocked by the return of ousted dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier after 25 years in exile.

Mr Aristide was overthrown in 2004, leaving Haiti on a US plane as a group of rebels neared the capital, Port-au-Prince.

In an email released by supporters he said: "Since my forced arrival in the mother continent six and a half years ago, the people of Haiti have never stopped calling for my return to Haiti. Once again I express my readiness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time."

His asylum conditions prohibit him from participating in Haitian politics, according to a US diplomatic cable posted on Wikileaks website.

Unlike Mr Duvalier, who is now being sued for torture and other crimes, Mr Aristide still has many supporters in Haiti, although his party, Fanmi Lavalas, was excluded from the November elections for "technical reasons".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT