Guy Philippe
PEOPLE PROFILE is published every Tuesday and describes the professional background of key people emerging in the political and economic scenario.
Who is Guy Philippe?
He is the leader of the armed rebels who have seized half of Haiti. After the
fall of the country's second-largest city, Cap Haí¯tien, on 22 February,
he confidently predicted that in less than 15 days the rebels would control
all of Haiti.
Why watch him?
Philippe will coordinate the rebel advance on the capital, Port-au-Prince,
within days. He is the man who will be calling the shots if the rebels are successful
in their bid to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Born: 1968
Public life: Served as police commissioner in Cap Haí¯tien.
Timeline
1991-1994: Trained by the US Special Forces in Ecuador during the 1991-94
military dictatorship in Haiti, along with other influential police chiefs known
as the `Ecuadoreans'.
1995: A senior security official under President Réne Préval.
2000: Flees to Ecuador accused of involvement in a plot to overthrow
President Préval in October 2000. Promptly deported to Panama, from where
he was again deported. Somehow sidestepping an entry ban, he went into hiding
in the Dominican Republic. He arrived at Las Americas airport in Santo Domingo
in December.
2001: Accused of masterminding an attack on Haiti's national palace in
December that killed twelve people.
2004: On 5 February, Philippe returns at the head of the Front pour la
Libération et la Reconstruction Nationales, an assortment of former military
associates.
Strong points:
Philippe would be the most powerful figure in the country in a post-Aristide
era. Young and smooth-talking, he appears to be very popular with the populace,
who refer to his troops as 'the army' (officially disbanded in 1995)
and seem to expect them to restore order to the country. He does not have the
black reputation of other prominent rebel figureheads such as Louis-Jodel Chamblain,
a former leader of paramilitary death squads during the 1991-1994 dictatorship.
Weak points:
He has no political experience. He is discredited in the eyes of the international
community. Whether he seizes power or installs a puppet president, or even tries
to hold fresh elections, it will be seen as illegitimate. The international
community, led by the US, France and Canada, has refused to talk to the rebels,
preferring instead to try and thrash out a peace plan between the government
and the opposition as if the rebels are a minor irritant that will soon go away.
Prospects:
Philippe maintains that he has no intention of setting up a military dictatorship.
He said the rebels have no political objective; they just plan to remove Aristide
and put the president of the supreme court in power. Even if he is true to his
word, it is doubtful whether he will be able to persuade other rebels to put
away their guns and melt away. The likes of Chamblain are likely to demand a
more active role in the running of the country.
The rebels are united in their desire to remove Aristide. If they accomplish their task, they could well fall out. Philippe and Chamblain are hardly blood brothers. Indeed, they were on opposite sides a few years ago as the Préval government hunted down members of the ousted military junta.