Do you plan to return to Haiti?

I’d like to go back to my country. I think that I ought to participate in the reconstruction.

Why can’t Haiti solve its persistent problems of corruption, poverty and violence? Your personal militia, the Tonton Macoutes, was accused of human-rights abuses.

Haiti doesn’t have a monopoly on corruption. Unfortunately, these last years, there hasn’t been any administration. The government was almost nonexistent. I can understand the reaction, because the U.S. spent over $3 billion when Aristide was brought back. In my time, there was corruption, but we fought it. The Tonton Macoutes were first and foremost volunteers who defended national security.

But Aristide would have said the same thing about the gangs who support him.

There is a big difference. The Macoutes always defended the weakest people. If someone had a problem, there was somebody he could turn to. They also [performed] other tasks, such as agricultural and road work. But the international media never mentioned that. Whether you want [to acknowledge] it or not, the militia did the Haitian Republic a good turn.

In what capacity would you go back?

As a simple citizen. Haiti is in a very difficult situation. Everything was destroyed in less than 10 years. There are no institutions left, no government, no economy, no agriculture. The country has been left to itself.

How should the reconstruction begin?

First, bring back peace and security, conditions that are essential to development. We need to restore the government’s authority, so that our financial backers and the traditional friends of Haiti can help.

What do you think of America’s presence in Haiti right now?

I think it’s a good thing. And I am happy that our other friends such as France and Canada and the U.N. are committing themselves.

But your own government and your father’s had horrific human-rights records.

That’s something that I don’t understand. American aid was conditioned on our human-rights record. Every six months the U.S. administration had to submit a report to the Congress on Haiti, saying whether we’d improved our record on human rights, improved our economic performance and were [tackling] smuggling and drug trafficking… We had no problem with the American administration. Year after year, the amount of aid increased.

What was your biggest mistake as a president?

I neglected the media. And I was too tolerant with some people around me, with people who had lost contact with the population and who contributed to my detachment as well.

Would you be a candidate for election?

That’s not on the agenda yet, and would depend on [what] Haitians think.