News Americas, PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Fri. Jan. 11, 2013: Did former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide use homeless children to elicit donations that were later used to help fund his political career?
That is the question Prosecutor Lucmane Delille wants answered. Delille on Jan. 9th questioned Aristide at his home on the outskirts of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince even as thousands of the former President’s supporters marched outside his residence in a show of support.
Some claim the investigation is politically motivated. But a small group of people have filed a complaint against Aristide alleging they are former street children who were rescued by Fanmi se Lavi, an organization Aristide created in the late 1980s to house and educate homeless orphans. They claim they were physically abused and used to raise money.
Aristide became president of Haiti in 1991 but was later ousted in a military coup. He was elected again in 2000, but driven from power four years later in a rebellion led by former soldiers. Aristide returned to Haiti in 2011 after seven years in exile in South Africa.
