After sporadic gunbattles Feb. 9, police regained control of the important port city of St. Marc, 72 km west of the capital Port-au-Prince.

The uprising, which began Feb. 5 in Haiti's fourth-largest city of Gonaives, signals a dangerous turning point in Haiti's three-year political crisis. A similar revolt in 1985 began in Gonaives and led to the ouster the following year of the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship.

Tension has mounted since Aristide's party won flawed legislative elections in 2000 and international donors blocked millions of dollars in aid. Misery has deepened with most of the nation's 8 million people living without jobs and on less than $1 day despite election promises from Aristide, a former priest who had vowed to bring dignity to the poor.

With no army and fewer than 5,000 poorly armed police, the government is ill-equipped to halt the revolt. Police stations have been a major target because they symbolize Aristide's authority and officers are accused of siding with government supporters.

Since capturing Gonaives, a city of 200,000 people, the rebels have spread to towns to the west and north, including the Artibonite Valley that is the breadbasket of Haiti.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 14, 2004
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