Haiti

New prime minister promises hope

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Former Haitian exile Gerard Latortue was sworn in Friday as the country's prime minister, promising to unite the country after months of bloodshed and political strife that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Under heavy security, Latortue took the oath of office in front of 200 people, saying he was happy to serve his country.

"This is an occasion for hope for all Haitians," he 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, 69, is a former U.N. official and business consultant who arrived in Haiti on Wednesday after living in Florida.

He spent much of the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship, which ended in 1986, in exile. He became foreign minister in 1988 for former President Leslie Manigat, who was toppled in a military coup.

Earlier, Latortue told pro-Aristide politicians he wants to hold legislative elections in six to eight months, Cabinet Minister Leslie Voltaire said. He also criticized Jamaica's decision to host Aristide, who was expected to return to the region early next week from exile in Africa.

Latortue said Aristide is no longer Haiti's leader, dampening speculation the former leader's trip might lead to negotiations for his return. Aristide insists he remains Haiti's legitimate president.

Latortue said Friday that news of Aristide's planned return to the region had caused "an increase in the tensions in Port-au-Prince." He said he told Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson that having Aristide so close was viewed as "an unfriendly act."

Latortue spoke with Patterson by telephone, and said the Jamaican leader told him Aristide "had no other place to go."

U.S. officials say Aristide asked for help and they saved his life by arranging his departure during a bloody rebellion.

Aristide has been reluctantly hosted by the Central African Republic after fleeing Haiti on Feb. 29 aboard a U.S.-chartered aircraft. His African hosts have made it clear they were providing temporary asylum, as Jamaica did Thursday.

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 effort 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.

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 begin organizing new elections.

He reassured politicians from Aristide's Lavalas Family they would be part of the transitional government, Voltaire said.

"The opposition is trying to say that Lavalas doesn't exist anymore, and it shouldn't participate," Voltaire complained. He said he believes Lavalas continues to command majority support "because it is the party of the poor."

The Toronto Sun reported Friday that Aristide's former security chief, Oriel Jean, was arrested this week after he arrived from the Dominican Republic, but Canadian officials refused to comment.

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