Haiti's New Prime Minister Is Sworn In
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Haiti's new prime minister Gerard Latortue promised to unite his rebellion-scarred country, even as he criticized Jamaica's decision to host a visit to the region by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
U.S. Marines, engaged in nightly gunbattles with looters and dissidents, guarded the National Palace on Friday as Latortue took the oath of office in front of 200 dignitaries and members of Haiti's former opposition.
"I"m a man of dialogue," he said. "I give you the assurance that I will work and listen to you all as much as possible."
Latortue said he would begin visiting cities across Haiti, starting with his hometown of Gonaives, where the rebellion that helped push Aristide from office began on Feb. 5.
The rebellion ended on Feb. 29, when Aristide fled to exile in Africa under pressure from the United States and France.
Latortue, 69, warned that Aristide's plan to return to nearby Jamaica early next week was ratcheting up tensions in the Haitian capital, and he told the Jamaican leader that hosting Aristide would be seen as "an unfriendly act."
Aristide has said he is still Haiti's legitimate leader, but Latortue denied that Friday, dampening speculation that the trip might lead to negotiations for the former president's return.
Latortue was selected by a U.S.-backed council earlier this week to replace former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, an Aristide appointee who resigned in a letter dated March 10.
He said earlier Friday that he wants to hold legislative elections in six to eight months.
"This is an occasion of hope for all Haitians," Latortue said. "Together, we will form a responsible government that respects its institutions, and I will see that every dollar given to development projects will be well spent."
Latortue spent much of the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship, which ended in 1986, in exile, and he became foreign minister in 1988 for former President Leslie Manigat, who was toppled in a military coup.
He said that news of Aristide's planned return to the region from his exile in Central African Republic had caused "an increase in the tensions in Port-au-Prince."
Latortue, a U.N. career officer and business consultant who arrived in Haiti on Wednesday after years in Florida, spoke with Patterson by telephone and said the Jamaican leader told him Aristide "had no other place to go."
Patterson said Aristide would visit, with his wife, Mildred, for eight to 10 weeks to be reunited with their two young daughters, who were sent to New York City for their safety. Foreign Minister K.D. Knight said Aristide had been told not to use Jamaica as a staging post for any desire to be reinstated in Haiti.
Patterson, chairman of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, has invited Latortue to visit Jamaica this weekend for talks on Haiti. Latortue said if he went, his trip would not overlap with Aristide's arrival.
U.S. officials say Aristide asked for help and that they saved his life by arranging his departure aboard a U.S.-chartered aircraft during a bloody rebellion.
A Caribbean summit in Jamaica last week called for a U.N. investigation into the circumstances of Aristide's departure, a call echoed Wednesday by the 53-nation African Union.
From Africa, Aristide has urged his followers to offer "peaceful resistance" to the U.S. "occupation."
The shadow of the diminutive Aristide, who came to power with fiery rhetoric about ending misery and uplifting the poor, continued to hang over the country, even as Latortue moved quickly to appoint a transitional Cabinet and organizing new elections.
Earlier he reassured politicians from Aristide's Lavalas Family that they would be part of the transitional government, Voltaire said.
Latortue said the talks were productive.
"We talked, and at times strongly disagreed," he said. "But we all agreed on the need for national reconciliation."
Rebel leader Guy Philippe said Friday that he planned to travel around Haiti for several months "to know what my people want, to see how I can help." Philippe, who fled to the Dominican Republic amid charges he was plotting a coup in 2000, stressed he did not plan to run for office.
U.S.-led peacekeepers also said Marines came under fire Friday at an industrial park producing garments for American companies, and gunmen shot up a nearby car dealership overnight.
U.S. Marines trained their rifles on workers and checked identity papers at the industrial park, acting on reports gunmen were planning to confiscate paychecks. No injuries were reported.
To promote security, Latortue wants his Cabinet to include retired army Chief of Staff Herard Abraham, who supports recreating Haiti's disgraced and disbanded army, a key rebel demand.
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Associated Press writer Stevenson Jacobs contributed to this story from Port-au-Prince.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
