Aristide announces candidacy at commemoration rally

Warns free ride is over.

Speech of Jean-Bertrand Aristide at the Aristide Foundation, commemorating eighth anniversary of his election as president on December 16, 1990. Not verbatim. Besides the speech summarized below, he made the following points:

• He announced his candidacy for the next presidential elections.

 
• The next government would be 100 percent Lavalas, with no room for opportunists.

 
• The free ride is over. "We want to tell everyone here, we love our country, this is for Mother Haiti . . . Everyone who has been fighting against Lavalas won't get a free ride any more.

A résumé of Aristide's statement follows:

Peace--in both mind and stomach. The enemies of the poor countries prevent them from making progress. An example was the destruction of the Creole pigs.

The Lavalas partisans must mobilize for peace.

Are we, Lavalas partisans, really mobilized for peace in both mind and stomach?

(Crowd replies yes.)

Raise your hands while repeating together: We are mobilized for peace.

(Crowd repeats.)

Peace in mind.

(Crowd repeats.)

Peace in stomach.

(Crowd repeats.)

This is what we want.

(Crowd repeats.)

We are establishing peace, like it or not.

(Crowd repeats: Like it or not.)

We must establish peace in the Lavalas way.

(Crowd repeats.)

The people must look ahead alertly so that they do not tear each other up with disagreements.

The driver honked his horn eight times to get everyone's attention, whether they wanted to get on the bus or not:

• First honk: A Lavalas partisan is a patriot.

 

• Second honk: A good Lavalas partisan is a good patriot.

 

• Third honk: Lavalas means: Unity makes us strong.

 

• Fourth honk: The Lavalas partisans who are good patriots will keep coming forward in a flood so they have peace in their minds and peace in their stomachs.

 

• Fifth honk: The perfume of the avalanche of justice and peace has already been achieved through the destruction of the torturing army. But this is only the beginning of the peace; most of it is yet to come.

 

• Sixth honk: Haiti has broken down, but we have the means to fix her.

 

• Seventh honk: We have ordered mobilization of an avalanche of patriots so that we can make 2004 a great year.

 

• Eighth honk: Haiti belongs to us Haitians. We are the hope of Haiti. Haiti looks us in the eyes, smiles to us, its children, and asks us to sing and cry, Alone we are weak, together we are strong, together and together we are Lavalas.