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Haiti rogue army refuses to disband
A rogue band of armed men pushing for revival of Haiti’s military are refusing to disband and clear out of old military bases, the leaders of the group said Tuesday, despite repeated orders from the government.
In a news conference at an army barracks just outside Haiti’s capital, several veterans of the defunct army said Haitian officials broke a promise by failing to appoint them to the helm of an interim force until the military is officially reinstated.
“We’ve decided that we’re not going to back down,” said former Sgt. Larose Aubin, who was flanked by a mix of ex-soldiers and younger recruits. “We’re not going to keep doing press conferences.”
Aubin and the other former officers made their strongest demand yet since they began recruiting men and a few women a year ago with the hope that the armed force disbanded in 1995 would be reinstated. President Michel Martelly raised their hopes further by saying as a candidate, and then in office, that he would bring back the military, a goal that has met opposition from Western embassies.
The Haitian government has repeatedly ordered the former soldiers and their followers, which number about 3,500, to vacate the old bases they seized several months ago, but it has taken no concrete action. Since then, the rogue force has paraded around the country in pickup trucks and carried weapons as if on patrol.
Last week, about 50 men in military fatigues, some of them armed, disrupted a legislative session when they showed up to speak to lawmakers about the government’s plans for them.
Their presence has become increasingly worrisome to Western diplomats, who have described the armed men as “paramilitary elements.”
The United Nations’ envoy to Haiti, Mariano Fernandez, called the parliament incident “an unacceptable act of intimidation.”
