Aristide Inaugurates the Lavalas Family in Jacmel

Agence Haïtienne de Presse, 3 November 1996

Jacmel, November 3 1996 -(AHP)- Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide inaugurated the The Lavalas Family in Jacmel Sunday. Thousands of people gathered to participate from the South East Department and other geographic locales around the country.

The Lavalas Family is not another political party that will create division, the former President said, referring it to as a tool.

According to Mr. Aristide, the Assembly is a big family that gathers its force from a united spirit and works to avoid a scandal of division. The Lavalas family is and will be the Lavalas family, but it is endowed with a political tool to present to candidates in elections, he said.

Before the official inauguration, AHP learned that Mr. Aristide spoke on the telephone with the heads of the three political parties which make up the Lavalas Platform: the Lavalas Political Organization (OPL), the Party to Open the Gate (PLB) and the Movement of Peasant Organizations (MOP). A high level delegation of MOP was represented the party Sunday at Congo Plage in Jacmel.

The Lavalas meeting used a May Pole to represent the movement, braiding the ribbons of unity, solidarity and organizations which represent the desires of the population.

During his discourse, President Aristide warned of those he labeled the new enemy of the population, the ones spreading disinformation and trying to demobilize the population.

He said that the Haitian people who could not continue to cry out should aim their arrows. They should organize and help out each other rather than count on the millions from rich countries to eradicate misery. The future of Haiti is in the hands of the Haitians, Mr. Aristide said.

Among those present at the meeting was the Port-au-Prince mayor, Emmanuel Charlemagne. In a meeting with one of the senators from the South-East, Ervelt Ch?ry, Mr. Charlemagne said that he had no problem with OPL or the Lavalas Family. He rejected the insinuation that he had come with the intention of antagonizing the former president.

However on another radio station broadcasting in the capital, Mr. Charlemagne criticized Mr. Aristide's entourage, accusing them of corruption. According to different sources, it appears that Mr. Charlemagne, along with Mr. Ch?ry, had intended to hold their own demonstration in competition with the Lavalas Family. When they realized that there wasn't enough support, they instead held a press conference.

Political observers, however, note that even if Mr. Aristide is not calling the Lavalas Family a political party, it will probably function as one.