12690: Fw: Haiti unrest simmers (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Gerard <grlato@adelphia.net>
>
>
> --------------------
> Haiti unrest simmers
> --------------------
>
> By Matthew Hay Brown
> san Juan Bureau
>
> August 11, 2002
>
> GONAIeVES, Haiti * He had been sleeping in his tin-roofed wooden shack
that night 11 years ago when the first rifle cracks pierced the silence.
>
> The army had come to Robateau, a seaside slum in this northwestern port
city, to hunt down supporters of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
and his Lavalas party.
>
> Bolting out the door, Nel Estimable was sprinting for the rocky beach when
a bullet caught his left forearm.
>
> Merely wounded, he may count himself lucky. Dozens of neighbors were
killed in violence that left more than 1,000 dead nationwide.
>
> Last week, Estimable took to the streets again. His life is little changed
since a U.S. invasion restored Aristide to power in 1994, and the unemployed
welder joined thousands in a demonstration organized by gang leaders in this
former Lavalas stronghold to demand the president's resignation.
>
> "I can't find a job," the 28-year-old said. "There's no power to run a
torch. Aristide knows he hasn't done anything for us."
>
> The government, widely accused of corruption and dealing drugs, remains
mired in a two-year impasse with opposition parties over disputed elections.
The United States and others, calling for reform, have blocked international
aid. The economy, already the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, is
shrinking.
>
> The protests in Gonaieves have opened a dangerous front of opposition to
Aristide: gangs of militant urban poor, funded and armed by the government
that had been the staunchest defenders of Aristide, a former slum priest.
>
> Drawing on a population disappointed by the failure of promised political
and economic reforms, frustrated by deepening poverty and angered by the
arrest of a popular local gang leader, they have flexed unexpected strength
during the past 10 days, staging a massive jailbreak, overwhelming the
undermanned police force and seizing control of Haiti's fourth-largest city.
>
> "Down with Aristide!" protesters chanted through debris-strewn streets,
while freed Cannibal Army commander Amiot "Cubain" Metayer called for a
national uprising to overthrow the government.
>
> As the fires burned in Gonaieves, smaller demonstrations broke out in
surrounding towns.
>
> "We are letting Lavalas know who we are," said William Joseph, a Cannibal
Army leader. "We helped them get up the mountain. Now we are telling them to
pull us up, too."
>
> A measure of calm has returned to Gonaieves. But the apparent inability of
the police to stop unrest has shaken Haiti.
>
> The return of Aristide in 1994 was supposed to bring freedom and
development to Raboteau and the neighborhoods like it across Haiti. But in
eight years under the Lavalas party, the country has grown poorer.
>
> The average Haitian earns $250 a year; unemployment is estimated at 70
percent. Life expectancy is 49 years; more than one in five children dies
before age 5. The country slipped from 134th to 146th of the 173 nations
ranked in the most recent annual Index of Human Development, released last
month by the U.N. Development Program.
>
> Irregularities favoring Lavalas candidates in parliamentary and local
elections in 2000 have ground government to a halt. While the stalemate
between the ruling party and the Democratic Convergence opposition coalition
drags on, the international community is withholding $500 million, roughly
the amount of the Haitian federal budget, in mostly U.S. aid.
>
> Ultimately, Aristide's supporters in Raboteau appear to have felt a
stronger allegiance to Metayer and the Cannibal Army. In December, when the
government announced a coup attempt at the National Palace, they poured into
the streets to defend the president. But last month, when authorities
arrested Metayer for his alleged role in the ensuing violence, they demanded
his release.
>
> "If they're going to arrest Amiot, they should arrest Aristide," said
Pierre Jeanty, a 27-year-old construction worker. "He was the one who gave
us the weapons and the orders."
>
> Ten were killed in violence throughout Haiti on Dec. 17. In Gonaieves, an
aide to opposition politician Luc Mesadieu named Ramy Daran was burned to
death. Mesadieu said he saw Metayer order Daran's death.
>
> Metayer has denied the accusation. After his arrest, supporters barricaded
streets with flaming tires and debris and set fire to the customs house. On
Aug. 2, an armed band commandeered a backhoe and pulled down a prison wall,
freeing Metayer and more than 150 others.
>
> Police fled as Metayer led thousands through the city.
>
> "We are fighting to save the country," the 38-year-old leader roared. "All
nine departments of Haiti must unite to oust Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Liberty
or death!"
>
> As Haiti's political gangs grow more powerful, Aristide's dilemma grows
more difficult. He is under international pressure to crack down on
violence, but he may be unable to do so.
>
> At a news conference Friday, Metayer announced a change of course.
Proclaiming his innocence, he said he was ready to appear before a judge.
>
> "I am not for injustice, I am for justice," he said. "Peace will lead us
to a state of laws."
>
> But his comrades sounded a more ominous note.
>
> "I hope that everyone will stay mobilized, because if we don't get what we
want, the struggle will continue," Cannibal Army leader Winter Etienne said.
>
> Copyright (c) 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
>
> Visit Sun-Sentinel.com
>