Haiti’s ‘Little Priest’ Is Defrocked, but Not Silenced : Clergy: The downtrodden revere him as prophet as he speaks of revolution by ‘active nonviolence.’

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —  Ragged, barefoot boys stop playing marbles and run to the Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide when the priest arrives at his white, two-story wooden home for street children.

They shout “Pe Titid!” --Little Priest, a Creole nickname for Aristide.

He is thin, about 5 feet 4, and appears almost fragile, but many people believe the man behind those gold-rimmed spectacles is one of the most powerful in Haiti.

Aristide’s strength is rooted in his ability to inflame the downtrodden masses who are the majority in this violent, impoverished Caribbean nation of 6 million.

Many followers believe the 35-year-old Roman Catholic priest is a prophet. He has demonstrated the ability to stir the slums with fiery oratory and fill the streets with protesters.

He opposes the elections scheduled for Nov. 4 and speaks of a revolution by “active nonviolence.” Aristide advocates liberation theology, which would involve the church in a political struggle for social justice.

In an interview, he said: “The people will know when to come out. Protests are a weapon, but like all weapons, you have to know when to fire.”

The Salesian Order expelled him in December, 1988, as a “protagonist of destabilization.” Aristide remains a priest, but is not allowed to conduct services or deliver sermons on the church radio.

“I continue to proclaim the same truth without Mass,” he said. “The most important thing for me is to serve people.”

Aristide said he opposes the elections because Haiti has too many violent holdovers from the Duvalier family dictatorship, which ruled for three decades until a popular uprising drove Jean-Claude Duvalier into exile in February, 1986.

Haiti has had five governments in the violent years since.

“We are in a struggle,” Aristide said. “It’s a real war. People with money and guns are killing people without money and guns. We have to have justice first, then elections. Today, those with weapons will win elections.”

In Aristide’s view, free and fair elections are not possible until the people behind major violence in Haiti are caught and imprisoned.

His main interest is in those responsible for the 1987 election massacre, when thugs backed by the army killed 34 people; an assault on his church while he was saying Mass by gunmen who killed 13 parishioners, wounded 70 and burned the building, and the attack June 28 on the Council of State during a meeting. A council member and a union activist were killed.

The priest calls attention to the recent return from exile of Roger Lafontant and Williams Regala, a retired army colonel, both associated with the Duvalier regime.

Lafontant was a leader of the Tonton Macoutes, the brutal personal militia of the Duvaliers. Regala, former minister of interior and defense, has been accused of coordinating the election-day attack in November, 1987.

Aristide criticizes the United States for insisting on elections, to which it has tied the resumption of aid. Washington canceled $70 million in assistance after the November, 1987, massacre.

Violence also is likely on the forthcoming election day, Aristide said, and he does not think the presence of international observers will stop it.

“If the American government sends observers, they too will be criminals because, after they leave, the killing will continue,” he said. “Why not help us get justice first?”

Jean-Claude Roy, a leader in a coalition of 12 political parties, said the priest “has a lot of weight and followers. He is certainly somebody to have on your side. He is a man who lives with the suffering of the people and is moved and touched by it.”

Georges Fauriol, a Caribbean specialist with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said of Aristide: “If he can mobilize people, it is a worrisome prospect for elections.”

Aristide spent months in hiding after his expulsion from the Salesians. Now, he keeps a nonstop schedule.

He drives to peasant meetings in the countryside with an entourage of followers. In Port-au-Prince, he runs the home and farm for 140 homeless boys and meets with politicians and labor leaders.

During an interview in a classroom of the boys’ home, called Lafami Celavi, his eyes flashed with anger as he told stories of military persecution of the peasants.

Little boys peered up a wooden staircase and giggled when they saw him talking to a stranger.

“Put on a clean shirt! Go! Go!” Aristide admonished one of the scruffy youngsters.

He scoffs at rumors of presidential ambitions.

“I would be a traitor to my people if I wanted power,” he said. “Everybody who wants to be president is sick. They have presidentitis.”

Aristide has escaped at least three attempts on his life. The last was the raid on his church in September, 1988, while he was saying Mass.

He sleeps at different places, as a precaution, and said threats would not deter him.