The Prophet and Power: Jean-Bertrand Aristide the International Community and Haiti (Critical Currents in Latin American Perspective)

About this book

This compelling book offers a comprehensive analysis of the struggle for democracy in Haiti set in the context of the tumultuous rise and fall of JeanBertrand Aristide. Swept to power in 1991 as the champion of Haitis impoverished majority and their demand for a more just equal and participatory democratic society the charismatic priestturnedpresident was overthrown by the military just seven months into his first term. Popular resistance to the junta compelled the United States to lead a multinational force to restore Aristide to power in 1994 to serve out the remainder of his presidency until 1996. When he was reelected for a second and final term in 2000 Aristide had undergone a dramatic transformation. Expelled from the priesthood and no longer preaching liberation theology his real objective was to consolidate his and his Lavalas partys power and preserve the predatory state structures he had vowed to dismantle just a decade earlier. To maintain power Aristide relied on armed gangs the police and authoritarian practices. That strategy failed and his foreignbacked foes overthrew and exiled him once again in 2004. This time however the population did not rally in his defense.