PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- In a show of strength that consolidates its control over the remnants of the Haitian armed forces, the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide announced a purge of the military yesterday that virtually wipes out the country's senior officer corps.
All four of the Haitian army's generals, including the military commander in chief, Gen. Bernardin Poisson, and 39 colonels and majors were affected by the order, according to a Haitian government statement and local newspaper and radio reports. Also removed was Col. Pierre Neptune, commander of the interim national police force.
The decision to forcibly retire all but a handful of the senior officer corps follows several other moves Father Aristide has made to weaken the military since he was restored to power Oct. 15.
But yesterday's action was especially far-reaching and constitutes a "coup de grace" for the army as an institution, said news commentators on Radio Tropic, a local station.
Over the last four months, Father Aristide has reduced the size of the Haitian armed forces from more than 7,000 soldiers to about 1,500 and replaced unit commanders at will, removing officers accused of the most serious human rights violations.
In addition, he separated the army from the police and has begun recruiting members of a new permanent police force.
But with the bulk of the officer corps having been told of the government's decision to put an end to their service as officers on active duty, Father Aristide is likely to have to reach deep into the ranks of the armed forces to find substitutes, assuming that he intends to maintain an army at all.
Yesterday's dismissals leave Maj. Dany Toussaint, an adviser to the president on military affairs and head of a commission to study reform of the armed forces, as the country's most powerful soldier. Major Toussaint has for several months been supervising the work of officers who were nominally his superiors, and the purge leaves him with no discernible rivals.
Some diplomats have expressed concern that the Aristide government may be creating a pool of embittered and potentially dangerous enemies with its mass dismissals.
But to ease the sting of yesterday's forced retirements, the minister of defense, Gen. Wilthan Lherisson, authorized "a financial indemnity" to be paid to the officers, on condition they surrender all weapons in their possession or under their command.