HAITI. Port-au-Prince. January 2004. Celebrations in front of the Presidential Palace. Lavals supporters break the fences to participate in the ceremony. Celebrations of 200 years of Independence and political unrest against President J.B. Aristide. After the departure of UN and U.S. troops in 1996, Haiti has fallen off the map. The poorest country in the Western hemisphere is ruled by the formerly highly-welcomed former priest and democratic leader, J.B. Aristide and his Lavalas movement. But since the 2000 election irregularities, a steadily growing middle and upper class opposition is demanding his departure. They are trying to interrupt the pompous celebrations to mark 200 years of Independence after a slave revolt against Napoleon made Haiti the first black republic. In often violent demonstrations, the opposition clashes with police, pro-Aristid Lavalas supporters and the gang-style irregulars "chimeres."
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