Hopeful Signs of Renewal in Haiti : New police force is replacing the hated army, but Aristide still needs much outside help

Haiti is slowly on the mend. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is making progress, albeit incrementally, in bringing genuine democracy to the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

The meeting of the Organization of American States, which opened Monday in a resort near Port-au-Prince, is just one solid symbol of the new Haiti. The foreign ministers and observers can expect a peaceful meeting.

The OAS last gathered in Haiti in October, 1991, in a display of support for Aristide, who had just been ousted by the army. That meeting did not go smoothly. Troops loyal to Raoul Cedras, the general who led the coup that ousted Aristide, forced the OAS ministers to flee. That overt intimidation led to OAS trade sanctions against the Haitian junta and an embargo imposed by the United Nations.

Aristide has wisely disbanded the old Haitian army. He recognized that Haiti doesn’t need much of an army to defend its borders. The old military attracted thugs, murderers and political opportunists and had a sorry history of brutality and corruption.

The recent graduation of the first 375 members of Haiti’s new and restructured national police force promises security without terror. “Never again will the uniform and a gun be used to suppress the rights of our people,” Aristide said during the graduation ceremony as the neophyte officers held up copies of Haiti’s new constitution. Aristide intends to build the police force to 6,000 members while U.N. troops continue to provide security.

The new American-trained police officers include a number of Haitian college graduates who are willing to serve because of the lack of jobs in Haiti. Generating jobs in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation is another of Aristide’s major challenges. The OAS promise to develop a free trade zone, and commitment to capitalism, should help on that score.

But Aristide doesn’t have much time to make good on his promises to Haiti. Presidential elections are scheduled in December, and the U.N. troops are expected to leave in February. He needs financial help from the entire world if democracy is to take root in Haiti’s bloodied and impoverished soil.