Old and peeling murals of Aristide's face are being brushed up all around the capital. The name that for three years Haitians have not dared even to utter - Pe Titid - is back on their lips.Questions will inevitably be asked about Aristide's willingness to learn from experience. Can he compromise? Can he reach out to his opponents? The questions are reflected in the pledge drawn from him by Washington - that when his original five-year term expires in 16 months' time, he will not run again as President.He may or may not hold good to his word. Whatever the case, the Americans intend to stay around until the elections to make sure he behaves as they think he should.To those who love him, he is the Mandela of Haiti. And in Haiti, Mandela's healing powers will certainly be required.(Photograph omitted).

HERE IS the speech that Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, should make at next month's Conservative Party conference, but certainly will not, even if he is still in office to deliver it. The audience response indicated (in italics) is another piece of wishful thinking Or, then again, perhaps not 'Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen (no applause). Last year, I basked in the warmth of your reception, as I announced my 27-point programme for dealing with burglars, hooligans, squatters, New Age travellers, party-goers, demonstrators and all the other people that this conference loves so much to hate. You will recall that Lord Archer - are you here again this year, Jeffrey? (embarrassed coughs) - called on me to 'stand and deliver'.

You will also recall how I said: 'Prison works.' I had hoped this year to return to you in triumph But I have to tell you the truth (Gasps of amazement.) My prisons are not working. I have failed to deliver. 'The discovery of Semtex in Whitemoor jail is only the latest disaster to befall me. It is being argued by my friends that this incident does not require my resignation, that ministers should be held responsible only where their policies have been proved wrong, not where implementation is at fault My friends are making a false distinction. (Sound of pin dropping.) Policy, however sound, cannot succeed unless the minister carries with him those who must put it into effect. Thus my colleague John Patten was dismissed from the education department because his high- handed manner towards teachers threatened the implementation of perfectly sensible proposals for testing children. I have succeeded in upsetting almost everybody involved in the criminal justice system.

Seven senior judges have told me that I am 'short-sighted and irresponsible'. Magistrates have accused me of producing 'knee-jerk legislation'. And, of course, the prison officers loathe me: my policy of privatising prisons has caused them to worry about their job security, rather than their duties.'There is more. (Shocked silence.) As long ago as 21 July, Judge Stephen Tumim sent me a report warning of security risks at Whitemoor I passed it to the head of the prison service This is normal procedure But that is not the point. It is the job of a good minister - as of any good manager - to retain an instinct for potential trouble, to distinguish between the important and the incidental. Whitemoor is a high-security prison; it contains people who are thought to be of particular danger to the public. It is quite absurd to pretend that the Home Secretary can treat it as though it were just another prison.