Several ex-military and police officials previously living in exile in the Dominican Republic have resurfaced in the rebel forces active within Haiti. The exiles are reportedly collaborating with the rebels in the city of Gonaives in the Northwest of Haiti. The former police commissioner of Cape Haitian, Guy Philippe, told listeners of Radio Signal that he had returned to Haiti to assist the Artibonito Revolutionary Resistance Front (FRRA). Philippe also mentioned Louis-Jodel Chamberlain, a former leader of the para-military FRAPH. Both men had been in exile since 2001, and Philippe was placed under Armed Forces control in May 2003 after Haitian diplomatic communication insisted he was continuing his plans to overthrow the government of Aristide. Upon his detainment, Philippe said that killing Aristide “would be to do him a favor.” Meanwhile, Jesuit priest Regino Martinez told El Caribe reporters that while the Armed Forces brag about tight controls along the frontier, things are about the same. Martinez, who works for the Jesuit Refugee Service in Dajabon, said that while the Army could stop a mass invasion, this hasn’t occurred yet. The priest expressed his opinion that the frontier must be kept open so that commerce can flow, since the hunger situation in Haiti would only worsen if the border were to be closed.
For the complete transcript of the Martinez interview: www.elcaribe.com.do.