Confronted with an armed rebellionand heavy pressure from the United States, Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide resigned on Sunday before he departed the Caribbean country's capital city of Port-au-Prince for the Dominican Republic.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, born on July 15, 1953 in the coastal town of Port-Salut, graduated from College Notre Dame in the historic town of Cap-Haitian in 1974 and did novitiate studies at the Salesian seminary in La Vega in the neighboring Dominican Republic before returning to Haiti to continue post graduate studies in philosophy at the Grand Seminaire Notre Dame and post graduate studies in psychology at the State University of Haiti.
After completing his studies in Haiti in 1979 Aristide traveled to Rome and then to Israel where he spent two years studying biblical theology.
On July 3, 1983, Aristide returned home for his ordination and was appointed curate of St. Joseph's church, a poor parish on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. As a parish priest, Aristide shared in the lives and struggles of his parishioners and quickly became their spokesperson.
He later moved to St. Jean Bosco, a church on the edge of La Saline, one of the largest slums of Port-au-Prince. Aristide was an outspoken critic of the Duvalier regime, and of the social system which condemned 85 percent of the population to abject poverty. He rose to national prominence through the broadcasts of his sermons on the Catholic station, Radio Soleil.
Shortly after Duvalier's fall in April 1986 Aristide led a memorial march to notorious Fort Dimanche prison in memory of the 30,000 Haitians who lost their lives there under Duvalier.
He became a target of repression by the military governments that held power after Duvalier's fall. He survived at least 9 attempts on his life.
In the fall of 1990, Haiti prepared for presidential elections that many feared would end in violence as they did in 1987 when voters were massacred at the voting booths. On the final day of registration Aristide announced his candidacy for the presidency and won the election with an overwhelming 67 percent of the vote.
On Sept. 30, 1991, the Haitian military violently overthrew Aristide's government, forcing him into exile.
On Oct. 15, 1994, Aristide was returned to power by a US-led intervention force and completed the last sixteen months of his presidential term.
On Dec. 17, 1995, Former Prime Minister Rene Preval, from Aristide's Lavalas party, was overwhelmingly elected president to replace Aristide. On Feb. 7, 2001, Aristide succeeded Preval.
Aristide insisted on remaining until his term ended in 2006,but issued a statement made public Sunday after he left the country that he had resigned to avoid bloodshed.
