L’icône et les armes : comment Aristide a pavé la route aux seigneurs de guerre haïtiens
The Icon and the Weapons: How Aristide paved the way for Haitian warlords By Patrick Prézeau Stephenson * (Le Français suit) Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s place in Haitian history is too important, and too tragic, to be reduced to a feel‑good bullet point in a celebratory listicle. It is true that he emerged as a courageous critic of the Duvalierist order, that he inspired Haiti’s poor, and that he spoke the language of social justice and education. But any honest assessment of his legacy must confront a harder reality: the deliberate dismantling of Haiti’s national army without building a credible security alternative, combined with the systematic arming and politicization of urban youth gangs, helped lay the groundwork for the catastrophic violence and state collapse that defines Haiti today. To celebrate Aristide as a top “influential” Haitian without acknowledging this arc is to confuse influence with positive impact, and to erase the link between his choice...