What’s in a date? Take, for example, February 29, which comes around every four years.

Well, conspiracy theorists in Haiti assert that the “kidnapping of President Aristide” on February 29 last year was no accident. It was meant to frustrate those who are intent on commemorating the date every year. The purists, you see, must wait until 2008 to really have a major demonstration.

But the die-hard followers of Mr. Aristide have decided not to be deterred by such a literal interpretation of a date. Thus they have dedicated the whole month of February – “and beyond” – to be protest time and the start of the “general mobilization” for the “physical return” to Port-au-Prince of “President Aristide,” now living in golden exile in South Africa. Following the voodoo ceremony at the “Crocodile Woods Conference” earlier this month at Trinity College in Washington, actions were planned in eight states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and Ireland.

Perhaps in observation of the fact that religion has become an increasingly compelling force in public discourse, the “leftist disciples” of Mr. Aristide, who is a defrocked Catholic priest, posted a message on the Internet calling on “faith communities” to organize “a reflection on Haiti” on Sunday, February 20.

There’s no way of measuring the impact of the “reflection” or of knowing the amount of money collected for “reconstruction needs” in Haiti, as the various Haitian solidarity groups recommended.

If the vigil on Wednesday in front of the Haitian Embassy in Washington is an indication of the response, however, one must conclude that the “mobilizing vanguard” has failed to energize the public.

Beginning at 9 a.m. that day, about two dozen law officers, including federal and city police, were deployed on the Embassy Row block on Massachusetts Avenue where the chancery is located. Four burly officers guarded the entrance of the building. Law enforcement vehicles, including two large vans, signaled the expectation of a major event. Around noon, Pierre-Antoine Lovinsky, who has been faithfully parading in front of the embassy every Wednesday since last September, was joined by four other non-Haitian demonstrators with a photographer in tow. At that point, most of the law officials left with their vehicles. The four guarding the entrance of the building remained until the demonstrators disbanded at 1 p.m. Were they hired to demonstrate for exactly one hour? That’s the impression their demonstration left.

Now what’s to be expected today from noon to 1 p.m. when the protest will shift to Lafayette Park across from the White House? The event will again takes on a religious tone. It is dubbed “A Season of Repentance/Lenten at the White House – Focus on Haiti.” The message is supposed to tug at our conscience: It’s “a time to remember the victims of war, torture, and poverty; a time to repent of our nation’s complicity in this violence; a time to recommit ourselves to the Gospel call of peace, justice, and nonviolence.”

Oddly, these peace-lovers have been silent about the violence unleashed in Haiti since September by the pro-Aristide thugs who declared that they were putting in effect their own “Operation Baghdad.” The beheading of law officers and of civilians caused terror in Haiti.

But when soldiers of the Minustah, as the United Mission to Stabilize Haiti is called, and the Haitian police reacted with force against the thugs, there was an outcry from certain human rights organizations. The peace-lovers have yet to denounce Saturday’s violence when a heavily-armed commando stormed the main jail in Port-au-Prince to release violent inmates. The head of a prison guard was blown off by heavy armor and nearly 500 prisoners escaped. Although some prominent prisoners, like Yvon Neptune, the former prime minister, and Jocelerme Privert, the former interior minister, were returned to their cells, while others who were considered “dangerous” are still on the loose.

The violent assault on the jail provided fodder for those who are demanding the replacement of Prime Minister Latortue. But Mr. Latortue has lashed back by denouncing those who are against reform and the democratic process. “They don’t want the elections to take place and they will attempt anything to derail the process,” the prime minister said during a press conference on Tuesday. Mr. Latortue vowed to stay the course until the elections later this year and an orderly transfer of power February 7, 2006.

Meanwhile, an investigation into the spectacular attack on the prison is under way. Some officials have already been fired and some police officers have been detained for questioning. One wonders whether the assault on the jail isn’t part of the scenario of revolution “sealed in blood” on February 6 at the close of the Washington conference. The ceremony was a reenactment of the first uprising of the Haitian slaves in 1791.

And the show goes on with an event Sunday at 5 p.m. at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn and a rally Monday at 4:30 p.m. at the U.N. Plaza “to protest the U.S.-led coup in Haiti [that] culminated last February 29, 2004 when a contingent of U.S. Marines kidnapped President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his residence, put him on a plane, and expelled him from the country.”

Mr. Joseph is Haiti’s envoy to Washington.