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During the Duvalier rule, a young priest named Jean-Bertrand Aristide became
a leading voice in the opposition. When the country finally held elections
in 1990, Aristide dubbed his campaign "Lavalas" or a cleansing flood,
and won 67 percent of the vote.  Although
many Haitians hoped his election would usher in peace and prosperity to the young
democracy, Aristide was ousted a year later in a military coup. The coup, led
by Brig. Gen. Raoul Cedras, led to economic sanctions against the country by both
the United States and the United Nations.
In 1994 U.S. forces arrived in
Haiti to oversee a peaceful transition from military rule to civilian rule. Aristide
returned to power for a short time, but it wasn't until 2000 that he was again
elected president. Today, the country of 8 million people is considered
the poorest in North, South and Latin America and has one of the highest rates
of AIDS in the world.  Since
contested legislative elections in 2000, Aristide's opponents have refused to
recognize his party's leadership and have held mass demonstrations in the country's
capital, Port-au-Prince.
In the last few months, the violence has escalated
and 69 people have died in clashes with the police since September. --
Kristina Nwazota, Online NewsHour | 
The
protestors, led by rebel groups, have been angry with Aristide since he was reelected
in 2000 in an election contested by his opponents. They say Aristide, who once
was expected to help Haiti move forward with its quest for democracy after decades
of dictatorial rule, rigged the elections and has become corrupt and brutal himself.
The
nation of Haiti, which shares an island landmass with the Dominican Republic,
has seen decades of violence and poverty since its independence from France in
1804, most notably during the reign of the infamous Francois "Papa Doc"
Duvalier.
The potential dangers of swine flu are few compared to the real dangers facing the uninsured.
