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Enter the Marines
Tensions ease in Haiti as U.S. troops move in

Daniel Aguilar / REUTERS U.S. Marines patrol the grounds of the National Palace in Port-au-Prince on Monday |

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Joseph Contreras
Newsweek
Updated: 4:35 p.m. ET March 01, 2004

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Dozens of U.S. Marines dressed in combat fatigues and armed with assault rifles took up defensive positions this morning at Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport less than 24 hours after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country on Sunday. They were part of a contingent of at least 150 troops belonging to the Third Infantry Battalion of the Marine Corps' Second Division, which began arriving on military transport planes at 9 p.m. Sunday. Those troops were joined by 50 French army soldiers wearing camouflage uniforms and dark blue berets who were flown into Haiti from the French-ruled Caribbean island of Martinique.

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Based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Marines represent the vanguard of a 1,000-member military "stabilization" force that the Bush Administration intends to deploy in coming days. The Marines will be based at the airport to ensure the resumption of normal operations and the orderly evacuation of hundreds of foreign nationals who have been trapped in Haiti since last week. A spokesman said some of the troops planned to fan out into Port-au-Prince on Monday, and by late morning a half-dozen Marines were standing guard at the imposing neo-colonial National Palace. "We are here to secure key sites in the capital, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, protect U.S. citizens and help facilitate any repatriation of Haitian migrants who are interdicted at sea," said Col. Dave Berger. "You'll see us move into the city earlier rather than later."

That couldn't happen too soon for many of the capital city's 2 million shellshocked residents. News of Aristide's abrupt departure from Haiti on Sunday triggered another round of wanton looting in downtown Port-au-Prince and a series of deadly shootouts between heavily armed police units and pro-Aristide gangs in various parts of the city. Mobs torched service station gasoline pumps and ransacked pharmacies, supermarkets and a police station. The bodies of several presumed looters and Aristide loyalists lay unclaimed on street sidewalks and the litter-strewn shell of a travel agency. Plumes of black smoke billowed skywards in the city center as pro-Aristide thugs mounted barricades and set ablaze tires and mounds of trash. By late Sunday afternoon police had gained the upper hand, and the streets outside the National Palace emptied out as nightfall approached.

The chaos and violence engulfing Port-au-Prince on Sunday gave way to scenes of wild jubilation early on Monday morning. Thousands of Haitians converged on a plaza near the palace to hail the collapse of Aristide's discredited government and chant in Creole, "Our prayers went up and the grace came down." Bystanders applauded helmeted riot police as they patrolled the capital in four-wheel-drive vehicles. "I feel a sense of deliverance," said opposition leader Evans Paul in a radio interview on Monday morning, " and I believe the population is also relieved that [Aristide] has left." A convoy of 70 rebels made a dramatic entrance into downtown Port-au-Prince led by Guy Philippe, the former army officer and alleged coup plotter who spearheaded a month-long rebellion in Haiti's northern towns and cities that precipitated Aristide's fall from power.
The tensions of the past few days did not entirely dissipate overnight. Uniformed policemen conducted spot searches of residents looking for weapons and ammunition and fired into the air to disperse a crowd milling outside a bank that was untouched by looters on Sunday. Merchants boarded up storefronts early for the sixth consecutive day. A 6 p.m. curfew took effect on Sunday evening.

Supreme Court judge Boniface Alexandre was sworn in as interim president on Sunday and called on his fellow Haitians to remain calm and avert further bloodshed. Rebel leader Guy Philippe made no mention of any plans to take power upon his arrival in the capital but said his fighters had come into town merely "to make sure the palace is clean for the [interim] president to come [and] there is no threat there." U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell made clear the Bush Administration's resolve to oppose any important transition role for certain top rebel commanders convicted of mass murder and other human-rights atrocities committed under the military junta that ruled Haiti between 1991 and 1994. "Some of these individuals we would not want to see re-enter civil society in Haiti because of their past records," said Powell. There was no early word on when new presidential and legislative elections might be held in the Caribbean country that has suffered over 30 coups during its turbulent 200-year history.
Aristide arrived in the Central African Republic at daybreak on Monday accompanied by his wife and a small contingent of aides and bodyguards. In brief remarks broadcast on state radio from the capital city of Bangui, Aristide condemned what he said was his forced removal from office. "In overthrowing me, they cut down the root of peace," declared the 50-year-old former Catholic priest. "But it will grow again because the roots are well planted."

Back in Port-au-Prince, the most conspicuous reminder of his ten-year reign was a billboard located just outside the entrance to the Marine-occupied international airport. "Peace for Haiti, 2004," read the billboard showing a smiling Aristide that was erected to mark the recent bicentennial celebration of Haiti's independence from France. "It's going to be more beautiful."

© 2004 Newsweek, Inc.

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