Thousands Fear Reprisals, Flee Haiti’s Capital

Thousands of poor slum-dwellers who passionately supported Jean-Claude Aristide fled Haiti’s capital Wednesday in fear of reprisals from soldiers who ousted him from the presidency.

Departing was their way of voting no confidence in the army-backed interim government headed by Supreme Court Judge Joseph Nerette.

Like the Organization of American States, they want Aristide restored as president--but they feel powerless to do anything about it.

Instead, these poor workers packed trucks and buses departing for Cap-Haitien and Port-de-Paix on the northern coast. Hundreds of better-off Haitians went to the airport to try to board one of the few flights leaving Port-au-Prince.

“We are emptying the city,” said a 30-year-old man preparing to take an $8 bus ride to the countryside.

“We may be going forever,” said his companion.

Even as traffic picked up and more pedestrians ventured onto the streets, the surface calm could not mask a mood of deep anxiety in low-income neighborhoods.

“Everybody has to sleep under the bed,” said a middle-aged factory worker. “Even if you’re in your house, they shoot at you.”

The general hospital morgue has recorded 91 deaths from bullet wounds and 291 gunshot wounds since the military coup began.

In Washington, a senior Bush Administration official said no movement toward resolving the crisis is likely until the OAS sanctions begin to bite. But he said that might occur relatively soon.

In a related move, the Agency for International Development informed its project directors and contractors not to begin new projects, the first step in a cutoff of U.S. aid to Haiti, which amounts to about $91 million a year.

Times staff writer Norman Kempster, in Washington, contributed to this report.