Winter Etienne
PEOPLE PROFILE is published every Tuesday and describes the professional background of key people emerging in the political and economic scenario.
Who is Winter Etienne?
He is another of the paramilitary leaders of the rebel groups whose activities
have led to the overthrow and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. His
group is the Front pour la Libération et la Reconstruction Nationales
(FLRN) previously the more aggressive sounding Front de Résistance de
l'Artibonite. It is strong in the north of the country and took control of three
of the country's biggest cities towards the end of February, precipitating Aristide's
overthrow. Ominously, after the cities fell scores were bloodily settled and
hundreds of people killed.
Why watch him?
Winter Etienne was close to Amiot Métayer, who ran the Canibale group
before he was brutally killed in September 2003. Etienne is one of the leaders
of the 300,000 or so paramilitaries who rampaged across the country during the
Duvalier régime which Aristide replaced.
Place of birth: Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Public life:
Etienne sprang to prominence in recent weeks when his band took control of Gonaïves,
the fourth-biggest city in the country, and home to 200,000 people. His allies
were Buteur Métayer (Amiot's brother) and Milfort Ferdinand (alias 'Ti
Will'). Etienne appointed himself director of police for the region, mayor of
the city and police commissioner.
Timeline
1990: Etienne trained part of the paramilitary forces loyal to the Duvalier
family. These forces are reckoned to number about 300,000 men. They are inured
to violence and used to getting their own way.
1990: He took part in the military coup which toppled President Aristide,
who had won the elections seven months earlier.
1994: After the US intervened and forced out the leader of the coup,
Raoul Cedrás, Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to power.
1995: The Haitian army was demobilised.
2003: Until recently, Etienne used to train Aristide's shock troops.
When Aristide appeared to be on the way out, Etienne joined the opposition and
now runs several cities in the north of the country.
2004: He set up what became the Front pour la Libération et la
Reconstruction Nationales (FLRN) with Métayer and Ferdinand. The FLRN
is backed by former paramilitaries.
2004: On 22 February, the FLRN takes Cap Haïtien, the second-biggest
city in country.
2004: On 29 February, Jean-Bertrand Aristide goes into exile again.
The rebels, loyal to Etienne and his partners, control the north of the country.
Strong points:
Etienne can count on the cowering support of hundreds of thousands of terrified
peasants in the interior of the country. These people have vivid memories of
the state of terror under the Duvalier régime. To be fair, Etienne also
enjoys the benefit of the doubt from the urban population which has seen their
standard of living wilt since the US restored Aristide. Etienne and his colleagues
can count on the support of most of the paramilitaries.
Weak points:
He and his colleagues do not command much support in the US. The US government
said that it would not negotiate with rebels. Presumably, the UN-backed multilateral
force, led by the US and France, will stay until fresh elections are held. They
were scheduled for October.
Prospects:
Etienne and his colleagues are in a powerful position, controlling as they do,
the north of the country. The divisions between the rebels mean that he is unlikely
to take national power, though he will be a significant powerbroker.