The United States Drug Enforcement Agency's recent attempt to hunt down former policeman, paramilitary commander and presidential candidate Guy Philippe on drug charges can be traced back to a recent arrest in the town of Gonaives, Haiti.

Their group, called the Artibonite Resistance Front, later joined with small but well-armed paramilitary groups that invaded Haiti from the Dominican Republic under the leadership of Philippe and former death squad commander Jodel Chamblain. Ferdinand and the others quickly claimed allegiance to Philippe and publicly referred to him as their "commander-in-chief" in press interviews.

Ferdinand appointed himself chief of police of Gonaives and Etienne became the chief of the Gonaives Port Authority, ruling Haiti's fourth largest city as a personal fiefdom following the ouster of Aristide on Feb. 29, 2004. Philippe shared the podium with Ferdinand in late March 2004 when United States-installed Prime Minister Gerard Latortue was flown into Gonaives by U.S. military helicopters, accompanied by David Lee, Canadian ambassador to the Organization of American States. During a mock celebration of Aristide's ouster, Latortue publicly praised the men as misunderstood "freedom fighters" while Ambassador Lee nodded his head in approval.

During Ferdinand's interview on Radio Gonaives FM and just before his arrest on May 26, he repeated assertions he had made days earlier on another radio station in the capital. He claimed that he was being pressured by "certain members of the business community" to take up arms against the current government of President René Préval. He explained that these were some of the same business leaders that had financed their paramilitary operations against Aristide and ended with "I would rather commit suicide than raise arms against this government."

The day following Ferdinand's arrest on May 27, Philippe was interviewed on Haitian radio station Signal FM where he took the accusations a step further. Without answering the question of pressure to take up arms against Préval, Philippe began to name the names of business and political leaders who backed the paramilitary insurgency against Aristide's government by providing arms, ammunition and logistical support.

Philippe's list included members of what was then touted as the "peaceful opposition" in Haiti that led demonstrations in the capital and other cities demanding Aristide's resignation. High on the list was Andy Apaid, the leader of the civil society organization called the Group 184.

Apaid had been extensively quoted in the international media at the time saying their movement was non-violent and had no connections to the paramilitary bands. Claire Marshall wrote for the BBC on Feb. 13, 2004, "One of the most prominent opposition platform spokesmen, Andy Apaid, wanted to make it clear that he did not approve of violent methods." Marshall continued, "Andy Apaid invoked the names of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, saying that he wanted to try and lead the opposition in a form of peaceful protest."

Philippe's disclosures exposed Apaid's duplicity and served to discredit the "peaceful opposition" movement against Aristide. It also highlighted the uncritical and favorable reporting given to it by the BBC and other major news organizations.

Philippe's list also included the leadership of several political parties that were part of a United States Agency for International Development-funded program in the 1990s and who recently ran candidates in United Nations-sponsored elections in Haiti. Among others fingered by Philippe were Evans Paul of KID/Alyans, former Sen. Dany Toussaint of the MODEREH, Serges Gilles of PANPRA, which is now known as FUSION, and Himmler Rébu of the GREH.

On June 1, Haitian police spokesman Frantz Lerebours announced that they had discovered a kilo of "a white substance resembling cocaine" after searching the residence of Ferdinand. On July 16, DEA agents executed a dramatic raid against Philippe's residence in the southern coastal town of Les Cayes, and he has been on the run ever since.
"It's a good question whether Philippe will actually be arrested," responded a source close to U.N. intelligence operations in Haiti who asked not to be identified. "The other option is that he may end up in a third country in a quiet exile like Michel Francois," he said in reference to a former police chief who led a military coup against Aristide in 1991.

Francois was indicted by a Miami grand jury in 1997 for drug trafficking and currently resides in Honduras after that country's Supreme Court refused to extradite him. The official continued, "It would take a complete change in current policy for him to be allowed to remain in Haiti without being arrested. But stranger things have happened."

The Haiti Information Project (HIP) is a non-profit alternative news service providing coverage and analysis of breaking developments in Haiti. For more information: www.HaitiInformationProject.net. For further information about the Haiti Information Project (HIP), visit www.teledyol.net/HIP/about.html or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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