Port au Prince, Haiti (HIP)- The US-installed regime
of Gerard Latortue has begun making compensation
payments to Haiti’s former brutal military in an
apparent move to reward them for their role in
overthrowing the democratically elected government of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

December 29, 2004

US-installed regime in Haiti compensates former brutal
military

Haiti Information Project

Port au Prince, Haiti (HIP)- The US-installed regime
of Gerard Latortue has begun making compensation
payments to Haiti’s former brutal military in an
apparent move to reward them for their role in
overthrowing the democratically elected government of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

In a gesture rife with symbolism, the first payments
were made to former soldiers who had participated in a
takeover of President Aristide’s residence this past
December 15. UN forces were said to have convinced the
former soldiers to leave without a single shot being
fired. Afterwards, the UN trucked them to a local
police academy where they were housed in preparation
for Tuesday’s ceremony. Thirty-three former soldiers
who participated in the takeover of Aristide’s
compound received the first in a series of checks that
are said by the Latortue regime to total about $5000
per soldier. About 6000 former soldiers are said to be
eligible for similar compensation.

The leader of the takeover of Aristide’s residence,
Remissainthes Ravix, remains at large despite the
announcement of a warrant for his arrest by the
current regime following threats he made to kill
Latortue and the Chief of Police, Leon Charles.
Remissainthes has recently been heard giving in-studio
interviews on various radio stations throughout the
capital even as the authorities claim he is the
subject of a nationwide manhunt.

While human rights groups expressed concern over the
vetting process for compensation fearing former
soldiers who may have committed crimes might be
rewarded, reaction and condemnation from supporters of
the exiled president was swift. A member of a Lavalas
organization who spoke on condition of anonymity
remarked angrily, “First the UN lets them takeover
towns in the north allowing them to kill and arrest
members of Lavalas. Secondly, they allow the killers
to enter the capital and begin a campaign of terror
against us with impunity. Finally, the international
community rewards their killing by integrating them
into the police and now, adding injustice to our
misery, they openly pay them off for committing human
rights violations against us. Is this what they mean
by reconciliation? Is this what they mean when they
say they are creating a climate for us to participate
in the next elections?