Mr. Boniface, the Chief Justice of Haiti’s Supreme Court, announced Sunday that he is taking charge of the country under the constitution, following the resignation of embattled President Jean Bertrand Aristide.
A the eyes of the world focused in on the Haitian political crisis and international pressure mounted, Mr. Aristide caved in on Sunday fleeing his strife-torn nation with U.S. help.
Mr. Boniface, who assumed power about three hours later, appealed for calm in a country that has been gripped by weeks of violence and anarchy.
The Haitian parliament has to approve him as president, but it has been without power since early this year.
Saying that he wanted to avoid bloodshed, President Aristide reportedly boarded a corporate jet early Sunday morning and headed into exile.
Mr. Aristide’s decision to leave came just as armed rebels prepared to unleash an all out attack on Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.
International press reports have indicated that the Haitian President was headed for neighboring Dominican Republic, however his exact whereabouts or destination is unknown.
The long simmering crisis in Haiti has been building ever since Aristide’s party won what some claim were rigged legislative elections in 2000.
Over the past weeks, at least 100 persons have died at the hands of rebels and in some cases, Aristide proponents. In the process, increasing numbers have tried to escape painstakingly shaping 30ft and 40ft vessels for their voyages.
Last Thursday, the US Coast Guard reported picking up more than 500 Haitians attempting to flee their troubled island home by sea.
Two hundred and eighty-three Haitians were intercepted on one ship, 213 on another and a freighter with 17 intercepted off the coast off Florida. According to US officials, another small vessel was being intercepted Thursday evening with just a few people aboard.
The Bahamas government, meantime, has prepared to accommodate 2,000 Haitian migrants, in the event that a mass exodus takes place from Haiti.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell announced Saturday that Bahamas Ambassador to Haiti Dr. Eugene Newry had returned to Nassau.
“Ambassador Newry was asked to return to The Bahamas for consultation,” Minister Mitchell said. “It is expected that they will remain here for the next few days.”
However, with no end to the civil strife in sight, Bahamas Vice Counsels, Anthony and Michelle Williams, who returned during Haiti’s Carnival holiday last week, were instructed not to return, according to Minister Mitchell.
On Saturday, the Minister also indicated that The Bahamas, part of a CARICOM team attending an emergency meeting at the United Nations in New York last week, had done all it can and essentially, “apart from the actions of trying to persuade a new policy, this was as much as what could be done.”
Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
