January 19, 2011
Aristide Says He Is Ready to Return to Haiti, Too
By GINGER THOMPSON

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Days after Haitians watched an exiled dictator come home, a former president issued a statement on Wednesday that fueled rumors that he, too, was angling to return.

The former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a onetime priest of the slums who became Haiti’s first democratically elected president, said he was prepared to return home “today, tomorrow and at any time.” Mr. Aristide was ousted in 2004 in the midst of growing unrest and under intense pressure from the United States.

In a statement posted on the Internet, Mr. Aristide said he was eager to return “to contribute to serving my Haitian sisters and brothers as a simple citizen in the field of education.” Later, he added that because he had a serious eye condition, his doctors had recommended that he not spend another winter in South Africa, where he has lived in exile since leaving Haiti.

It was not the first time that Mr. Aristide had talked publicly of his desire to return to Haiti, but his statement — which read more like a plea — threatened to fuel tensions already stirred by the surprise return on Sunday of the former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Mr. Duvalier’s emergence from exile has not only threatened to complicate the country’s unresolved presidential election, but has also energized Mr. Aristide’s supporters. There has been a persistent flurry of speculation that Mr. Aristide, who rose to power as a champion of Haiti’s poor but became notorious for his violent crackdowns of political dissent, has been hopscotching across Central America and the Caribbean in anticipation of making his own surprise re-entry.

Mr. Aristide’s travels, however, have been limited because he does not have a valid Haitian passport. The nation’s president, René Préval, once a political protégé of Mr. Aristide’s, has refused to issue him a new one. More importantly, political analysts here said, his return would not be supported by either the United States or France, Haiti’s most important allies.

“Aristide could have 15 passports and he’s still not going to come back to Haiti,” said one analyst, who asked not to be identified because he was close to the Haitian government and was not authorized to speak to the media. “France and the United States are standing in the way.”

Mr. Aristide, who remains popular among the poor, appealed to the people in his statement.

“Despite the enormous challenges they face in the aftermath of the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake,” he said, “their determination to make the return happen has increased.”

Statement attributed to Jean-Bertrand Aristide on 19 January 2011

Dr Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Former President of Haiti

19 January 2011

I would like to thank the government and the people of South Africa for the historic hospitality, deeply rooted in Ubuntu, extended to my family and I.

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. Despite the enormous challenges that they face in the aftermath of the deadly January 12, 2010 earthquake, their determination to make the return happen has increased.

As far as I am concerned, I am ready. Once again I express my readiness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time. The purpose is very clear: To contribute to serving my Haitian sisters and brothers as a simple citizen in the field of education.

The return is indispensable, too, for medical reasons: It is strongly recommended that I not spend the coming winter in South Africa’s because in 6 years I have undergone 6 eye surgeries. The surgeons are excellent and very well skilled, but the unbearable pain experienced in the winter must be avoided in order to reduce any risk of further complications and blindness.

So, to all those asking me to return home, I reiterate my willingness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time. Let us hope that the Haitian and South African governments will enter into communication in order to make that happen in the next coming days.

United to the Haitian people, once again my family and I express our sincere gratitude to the government and the people of South Africa.


Source, site internet Lavalas:

http://www.hayti.net/tribune/

I think that former President Aristide should also be allowed to return to his country. Nicolas Sarkozy allowed Duvalier to go back, Jacob Zula should also be allowed to do the same.

7 Fev 2011, Aristide will be home ( not in Tabarre though).

"Aristide should also be allowed to return to his country"

There is no also! Nobody allowed the former President for life to enter the country! Aristide can just walk in if he has the gruch2e19y4i9179479 to do so...

"Nobody allowed the former President for life to enter the country! "

you must be joking .Why didn't he do it before?The exterminator is back to finish the job started in 1957 by his father.

Not me .you were ;up to now you still want to serve him.