Exiled Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide will speak at the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium Monday at 2 p.m. and will address Haitian issues and his nation's democratic future. Aristide will speak and answer questions at the invitation of Connaissance, which will distribute free tickets to the first 800 interested members of the University community today, tomorrow and Monday on Locust Walk. The audience size will be limited due to both space constraints and security reasons. "I think the Penn community will get a lot out of it," Connaissance Chairperson Robyn Allen said. "I think he'll be able to enlighten people about what's going on in Haiti." According to Connaissance Vice Chairperson Guy Raviv, Aristide's availability to speak at the University was "very sudden." "He came to the University, said that he was going to be in the area, and wanted to speak to students as well," Raviv said. Allen said the University event was arranged in conjunction with the Philadelphia Committee for Aristide. Aristide will also be speaking at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown and at a fundraising banquet at the Penn Tower Hotel on Sunday during his first trip to Philadelphia. Raviv said that Connaissance will only be paying a $1,000 honorarium for Aristide's address -- a small sum in comparison to speaker fees for figures such as University of Oklahoma Law Professor Anita Hill, who commanded $11,000 for her appearance at Irvine Auditorium last April. "He really wants to speak -- he's not doing it for the money," Raviv said. "He wants the message of the Haitian people to be known." Announcement of Aristide's visit comes in the midst of continuing controversy over the U.S. government's policy of repatriating Haitian refugees attempting to flee their island nation. According to a press release, Aristide will also speak on the recent failure of the United Nations to send observers to Haiti and the international community's failure to impose an embargo on the country. In addition, he will address issues of the military junta de facto government which ousted his democratic regime. Aristide was elected president of Haiti in December 1990 in the first democratic election in the history of the country, and he was the victim of an attempted assassination even before his inauguration, in February 1991. On September 30, 1991, a military coup d'etat forced Aristide into exile.
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