Former president Jean Bertrand Aristide arrived in Haiti Friday morning, ending seven years in exile.
His plane touched down at the Port-au-Prince airport sometime after 9:00 a.m. on Friday.
Mr. Aristide waved and blew a kiss to the small crowd at the runway, then began to deliver a speech in which he thanked his chanting, jubilant supporters.
Hollywood actor Danny Glover, a longtime supporter, was second off the plane followed by Mr. Aristide's wife Mildred and two daughters and his US-based attorney, Ira Kurzban.
Mr. Aristide’s returned to Haiti despite efforts by US President Barack Obama to prevent him from doing so.
US authorities had said his return would be "destabilizing" ahead of key elections on March 20.
Mr. Aristide, a former priest, burst onto the political scene in 1985 to oppose Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier's authoritarian rule, riding his reputation as a champion of the poor Catholic majority to become Haiti's first democratically-elected president.
He was ousted from office twice, eventually leaving the country in 2004, like Mr. Duvalier, aboard a US Air Force plane and in turn accused of massive corruption and violence.
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