1991, September 30 – October 1: (Aristide Taken Hostage at 5:30: The Mutineers Storm the Palace, a Move to Shoot Him on the Spot but No One Willing to Do the…

1991, September 30 – October 1: (Aristide Taken Hostage at 5:30: The Mutineers Storm the Palace, a Move to Shoot Him on the Spot but No One Willing to Do the Deed, Hustled Across the Square to FAd’H Headquarters, the Army Negotiates with the International Community, Aristide Surrounded by Jeering Soldiers Retains His Composure at the Airport, the Venezuelan Air Force Plane Arrives Just Before 3 A.M., Caracas Then Washington, and the Government-in-Exile Assembles at the Fin-de-Siècle Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue): By 5:30 the mutineers stormed the palace, taking Aristide hostage. Initially there was a move to shoot him on the spot, but no one was willing to do the deed and he was instead hustled the short distance across the square to FAd’H headquarters. From there the army negotiated with the international community, finally agreeing to allow their prisoner to leave the country. By 10:30 he was on his way to the airport, met there by the U.S. and Venezuelan ambassadors. Surrounded by several score jeering soldiers, Aristide retained his composure while waiting for a Venezuelan Air Force plane to arrive, which it did just before three in the morning. After the short flight to Caracas, he was flown to Washington, there to confer with those elements of his government still under his control. It was a shaken and tired president who conferred in the succeeding days with those members of his government that had managed to escape Haiti or who had the good luck to be abroad when the boom was lowered. In Haiti’s elegant, fin-de-siècle Massachusetts Avenue embassy, Aristide conferred with his able Washington envoy Jean Casimir. In Washington the president enjoyed the good will and the resources of the Washington Office on Haiti, an independent center-left group established in 1984 whose analyses commanded considerable respect. In New York and other cities across North America, the émigré apparatus, long used to life in opposition, was newly energized under such veterans of various struggles as père Adrien. At the UN, Aristide’s tribune Fritz Longchamps stood ready to defend the interests of what was rapidly becoming a government-in-exile.