Haiti’s New PM Pieces Together Government

Haiti’s new prime minister sought to unite a divided, desperate population as he began cobbling together a government. U.S. Marines, meanwhile, stepped up their mission to stop violence in the Caribbean nation.

Gerard Latortue, who returned to his homeland from Florida on Wednesday, was chosen by a committee earlier this week to fill a void left after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country on Feb. 29 amid international pressure and a bloody rebellion.

The nation of 8 million remains torn between those who want a new government and those demanding Aristide’s return.

Latortue, a 69-year-old former U.N. official and foreign minister, said his top priorities were security, justice, decentralization of power and organizing elections.

“I came here with my mind open to work with everyone in Haiti,” he said. “I’m not a member of any political party.”

Latortue was scheduled to meet with interim President Boniface Alexandre later Thursday.

A once popular slum priest, Aristide was elected on promises to the poor, but lost support as misery deepened in the country and Haitians accused his government of corruption and attacks against his political opponents.

In exile in Africa, he claims he is still Haiti’s legitimate leader and has accused the U.S. government of forcing him from his post. The United States has denied that. Latortue hasn’t addressed Aristide’s claims.

The prime minister, who has been critical of Aristide in the past, faces an uphill battle in bringing the country together. Some militant Aristide supporters have said they won’t recognize him as their new leader.

Latortue 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.

Latortue, who most recently lived in Boca Raton, Fla., and worked as an international consultant, said Wednesday he understands what the country is experiencing.

“We who are living outside the country may not suffer the same kind of pain, but we feel it just as much when we see the wounds caused by what’s happening in the country,” he said.

Under Aristide, the prime minister’s position was largely ceremonial. But Latortue’s position will be that of a powerbroker and has the potential of carrying enough weight to smooth political divisions.

It was unclear if the outgoing prime minister, Yvon Neptune, appointed by Aristide, would remain in the country.

After his arrival Wednesday, Latortue met with members of the seven-member council that chose him. It was unclear when he would be sworn in.

“There is no time to be talking too much,” he said. “It is time for action.”

He has indicated he might consider bringing back Haiti’s army. Aristide disbanded the military in 1995 after it was blamed for much of the country’s brutality.

Latortue said Wednesday that Aristide’s action may have been unconstitutional, and he suggested creating a commission to study the possibility of bringing the army back.

He arrived with former Lt. Gen. Herard Abraham, probably the only Haitian army officer to voluntarily surrender power to a civilian. That allowed the 1990 transition that led to Haiti’s first free elections in December 1990, which Aristide won in a landslide. Aristide was ousted by the military in 1991 but returned to power in 1994 after a U.S. military intervention.

In the first indication of what Latortue’s government might look like, the new prime minister said Abraham will be in charge of security. Latortue also said he hoped to offer money to those willing to disarm.

In Washington, the U.S. military announced an escalation in its mission, promising Marines will move quickly to stop violence among Haitians. “They will intervene to protect life,” Gen. James T. Hill, commander of U.S. Southern Command, told reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon.

The Marines also had planned to begin helping Haitian police collect weapons Wednesday, but the disarmament program had not yet begun for reasons that weren’t clear.

Also Wednesday, the U.S. Marines said they killed two Haitians who allegedly opened fire near the outgoing prime minister’s private residence, the third fatal shooting by peacekeepers.

Since Sunday, Marines have killed at least four Haitians, including a driver who sped up while approaching a checkpoint and a gunman who opened fire on an anti-Aristide demonstration.

The latest fatalities, which occurred late Tuesday in an Aristide stronghold, demonstrate the difficulties peacekeepers face as they try to disarm rebel groups and Aristide militants.

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Associated Press Writers Paisley Dodds and Peter Prengaman contributed to this story from Port-au-Prince.