17788: Esser: With Haiti in turmoil, NYC mayor plans trip anyway (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com


With Haiti in turmoil, NYC mayor plans trip anyway

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer

January 7, 2004, 5:46 PM EST

NEW YORK -- Despite a deepening political crisis in Haiti, including the
threat of strikes and a mass demonstration, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
still
plans to visit the violence-torn nation.

"At this point, the trip is a go," Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler said
Wednesday.

Bloomberg plans to arrive in Port-au-Prince on Sunday and stay for about
five hours before traveling to Jamaica as part of a trip to boost his
support among those immigrant communities in New York.

Among the events scheduled is a meeting with the U.S. ambassador, a
visit
to an AIDS clinic and a lunch with business and community leaders.
Bloomberg also is scheduled to lay a wreath at the statue of Gen.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of Haiti's founders.

The executive director of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights,
Jocelyn McCalla, said that given the political unrest the timing of
Bloomberg's visit is "problematic."

"The tension is so high that there's going to be a lot of pressure on
him
to choose sides," McCalla said. "He'd probably be better off waiting."

Haiti, which celebrated the 200th year of its independence Jan. 1, has
experienced anti-government protests that have left at least 43 people
dead
since September.

Tensions between supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and
anti-government opponents have been rising since the president's Lavalas
Family party swept legislative elections that observers said were
flawed.

On Wednesday, in the latest spate of violence, university students and
other Aristide opponents held a march in which at least one person died
and
13 others were wounded.

Aristide partisans armed with clubs, bottles and pistols jumped down
from
pickups to block the marchers, who were joined by thousands of
anti-government demonstrators shouting "Freedom!" and "Down with
Aristide!"
Riot police fired shots to keep government partisans away.

At the beginning of the protest, Aristide supporters attacked
demonstrators, hitting one with a rock and shooting another. Police shot
and killed an Aristide supporter after he opened fire on the crowd.

At another leg of the march, government partisans opened fire, wounding
two
demonstrators. The Aristide supporters then surrounded a group of
students,
stabbing one and beating six others. Students beat two Aristide
supporters.

A delegation from the 15-member Caribbean Community has been in Haiti
since
Monday to try to help mediate the political crisis.

Anti-government opponents have called for a general strike on Thursday
and
Friday and a large demonstration on Sunday, when Bloomberg is scheduled
to
be in the country.

Bloomberg's trip is intended to boost his support in the Haitian
community
and to help celebrate Haiti's bicentennial, which was wracked by
violence
and attended by only a few world leaders when it was officially
observed.
Bloomberg has previously visited the Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Greece,
Turkey, Afghanistan and Israel.

The 2000 census puts the number of New Yorkers of Haitian descent at
118,000, although community organizations say the population is much
larger. The city has about 8 million residents.

Associated Press writer Paisley Dodds contributed to this story from
Port-au-Prince.

Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press