Aristide Steps Down; Leaves Haiti

By Liane Hansen

Published February 28, 2004 at 11:00 PM CST

A Haitian looter gestures as people rampage through the police station in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, after Aristide left the country.

Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide steps down, bowing to months of protests and a growing armed rebellion that had taken over several cities.

International attempts to broker a power-sharing agreement between Aristide and the opposition proved fruitless, leading several nations, including France and the United States, to call for Aristide to bow out. Looting spread throughout the capital Sunday. Boniface Alexandre, the chief justice of Haiti's supreme court, has stepped in to lead the nation.

NPR's Liane Hansen talks with NPR's Gerry Hadden from Port-au-Prince.

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Liane Hansen

Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.