LaTortue's simultaneous reliance on and independence from the Americans were demonstrated last weekend when U.S. military helicopters transported him to Gonaives, where the anti-Aristide rebellion began. He met "freedom fighters," in coats and ties for the occasion but disdained by the State Department. "They are not thugs," LaTortue told me. "They are people who have suffered from the dictatorial practices of Aristide."
LaTortue was impressed by Guy Phillipe, the 36-year-old former police commissioner who led the armed rebellion against Aristide. Phillipe's irregulars still control half the country but give way when foreign forces arrive -- to U.S. Marines and Canadian troops in Port-au-Prince and the French Foreign Legion in Gonaives. But Phillipe is estranged from U.S. authorities here. "Please tell the American government that we are not your enemies," he informed me.
The boycott by American officials of the leader of anti-Aristide rebels is a small part of the American syndrome that includes lingering support for Aristide within the U.S. political community. LaTortue's words to me might well be heeded in Washington: "We are committed to not only democracy but also development. You would not have total democracy here."
I found the fear among many Haitians that John Kerry as president (under Congressional Black Caucus pressure) will return Aristide. The Democratic candidate should consider the experience of Mary Louise Baker, for 33 years co-owner of a five-building apparel factory in the Cite Soleil (pro-Aristide) slum -- employing 700 people and feeding 7,000.
On Feb. 27, two days before Aristide left, some 200 heavily armed pro-Aristide gang members entered the Baker plant to loot and destroy equipment, leaving it an empty shell. I asked Mrs. Baker whether she will rebuild. "I will have to see what happens here, whether you Americans send Aristide back again," she replied. Such widespread doubt stalls economic recovery for this tragic land.