With the departure of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haitian-Americans and members of Florida's congressional delegation were apprehensive Sunday about what will happen next.
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U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, accused the Bush administration of inaction while violence took hold in recent weeks and culminated with Aristide's leaving the country Sunday. Meek believes U.N. and U.S. troops will be needed to restore security and stave off starvation.
"If we continue to march on in standing by, the person with the biggest gun and the most guns will be in charge of Haiti," Meek said. "The longer we wait, the more difficult this is going to be for us to restore."
U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., said it was "critically important" to get Marines ashore in Haiti to avoid potential revenge killings. He also wants humanitarian aid to be restored immediately to help discourage Haitian flight by sea.
Graham knew Aristide first as an activist priest in the 1980s, but he told CNN that Aristide was "a great disappointment to me."
U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, also called for immediate international help.
"What we do now will be the difference between life and death in Haiti," Foley said in a statement.
South Florida is home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the nation, and it has growing political clout. The population is at least 150,000, and some believe it may be three times larger. Many Haitian-Americans with relatives in their homeland were frustrated trying to get through by telephone Sunday.
In Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood, a passing driver honked the horn as a passenger clapped and yelled: "Aristide is gone. Aristide is gone."
Bayard Thermidor, who lived near the Haitian city of Gonaives before coming to Miami nine years ago, expects to see "good weeks and bad weeks after Aristide's departure because he did not leave voluntarily." He is happy Aristide left and hopes to see new elections in six months.
Verdy Pompee, a computer specialist living in the United States for nearly 20 years, was relieved to hear Aristide was gone.
"I was one of the minority who believed that a thug cannot run a country, and Aristide is no more than a thug," he said. "He has his gang, he armed them, and they're the ones who are looting and killing people."
Claude Mancuso, a French-Moroccan who has lived on and off in Haiti since 1979, owns the Miami-based Haitian Television Network. He considered Aristide to be a tyrant and his Lavalas party oppressive.
"So many people are happy today because we've been living in such fear of being free to speak," he said. "We're only hoping the retaliation against those who profited from the Lavalas regime does not occur as bloody as it did on (Jean-Claude) Duvalier's departure."
Little Haiti shop owner and longtime Miami resident Marie-Louise Simeon hoped to hear from her husband in Haiti soon.
"I'm just watching the news and I'm keeping an eye on the U.S. government," she said. "I hope the U.S. government will help us out of this, and I hope for the killings to stop in Haiti."
Junior Jean-Baptiste, of North Miami, moved to Florida as a preschooler 20 years ago. He said he hasn't been in touch with his mother in Haiti for more than a week.
"I don't know whether Aristide's departure is good or not, but I just want change and peace," he said.
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