Some coming events will be closely watched as guideposts in Haiti’s struggle for legitimacy and stability.

Last Monday, Prime Minister Latortue announced the creation of a commission to celebrate Haiti’s bicentennial of independence, which was marred in violence when it should have been celebrated January 1.

The nine members on the commission represent a cross section of Haiti’s intellectuals from political horizons. It is undoubtedly a sign that the interim government is broadening its appeal.

“There is not that much time to organize something that we would have liked to be very grandiose,” said Mr. Manigat, “but all together we’ll do something for the good of the country.” The date of November 18, which marks the 201st celebration of the “Battle of Vertieres,” the last against the French colonial masters, has been retained for the great event. But Mr. Manigat said “that will be the debut to finish the year of the bicentennial.”

On January 1, President Aristide hurriedly left Gonaives as rebels were closing in. The sole foreign head of state to attend the festivities in Port-au-Prince was Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who declined to accompany Mr. Aristide to Gonaives, the birthplace of Haiti’s independence.

While most people refer to January 1, 1804, as the beginning of the Haitian nation, it was on August 14, 1791, that the rebellion began with a voodoo ceremony at Cayman Woods in the vicinity of Cap Haitien, then the jewel capital of France in the New World. Boukman, a voodoo priest of Jamaican extraction, officiated at the midnight ceremony that was the spark to the successful 13-year guerrilla warfare that culminated in the declaration of independence at the plaza of Gonaives. Ever since, Gonaives has gained the reputation as the birthplace of all successful uprisings, including the latest that forced Mr. Aristide into exile.

And that is the focus of another event scheduled for Monday. Following a visit to Port-au-Prince last month by a delegation of Caribbean Community, or Caricom, foreign ministers, the Caricom Bureau proposed to issue a statement August 16 on Haiti’s reintegration into Caricom. The Alexandre-Latortue government has been kept at bay by Caricom, which has demanded a full inquiry into the departure of Mr. Aristide from power. Although most of the countries in the subregional organization feel satisfied to the point of accepting Haiti back into their midst, indications are that three leaders are holding out.

Rickey Singh of the Jamaica Observer wrote about an “explosive rift over Haiti” in the Kingston daily last Sunday. According to Mr. Singh, Jamaica’s foreign affairs and foreign trade minister, Keith Knight, confirmed that there were “serious cracks” among Caricom’s leaders. The correspondent said the Guyanese president, Bharrat Jagdeo, the St. Lucian prime minister, Kenneth Anthony, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves, denounced those who would “abandon the principled stand taken by Caricom following the ouster” of Mr. Aristide on February 29.

Those three leaders represent countries whose combined populations slightly exceed 1 million inhabitants. But following the rule of consensus adopted in the past by Caricom, the tiny minority would thwart the will of the vast majority of leaders who represent more than 4 million souls. More than that, Caricom is a member of the OAS, which long ago embraced the interim Haitian government.

Arguably, the “mother of all events,” as far as Haitians are concerned, will take place Wednesday when a star-studded Brazilian soccer team will play a Haitian selection at Port-au-Prince’s Sylvio Cator Stadium.

More surprises may be in the works for Haiti, which has become a point of unification for political and sports rivals. Other than President da Silva of Brazil, who is going to Haiti for the August 18 match, President Kirchner of Argentina “will visit Haiti in the next few days.” So said Jose Pampuro, the Argentine defense minister, last Sunday in a broadcast from Buenos Aires. Yesterday, Mr. Pampuro arrived in Port-au-Prince with a delegation of civilian and military authorities, including 114 Argentine soldiers and policemen wearing the blue helmets of the U.N. There are 105 Argentine soldiers in Haiti as part of the U.N. Mission to Stabilize Haiti.

With Argentina and Brazil, the two soccer rivals of South America and idols of the Haitians teaming up in Haiti, the Caribbean nation may again aspire to make it to the World Cup, as it did in 1974. Interestingly, Haiti has not only brought Argentina and Brazil together. France and America had put aside their differences, exacerbated by Iraq to forge a unified position earlier this year to bring change in Haiti.