18534: (Chamberlain) Aristide supporters block opposition rally (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Christie

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Militant supporters of
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide poured into the streets of the
capital on Thursday and threw up barricades to prevent the opposition's
first big political rally since an armed revolt erupted a week ago.
     Aristide supporters blocked all roads to a square in Port-au-Prince,
where the rally was due to be held, manning barricades of broken furniture,
burned-out cars and scrap metal.
     Crowds of ruling Lavalas Party supporters turned back vehicles trying
to get past barricades. Some supporters had pistols in their waistbands.
     Some in the crowd chanted: "Down with the terrorists," the
government's term for the armed gangs that have taken over the city of
Gonaives and half a dozen other towns in an insurgency that has killed more
than 40 people. Aristide's political opponents have condemned the gangs but
most of them share a common aim of seeking the president's departure.
     Opposition leaders denounced government supporters for preventing a
peaceful protest. They said that in addition to a wave of retaliation
against opponents and suspected rebels across the country, it showed the
Aristide government was intent on repression.
     "I believe Jean-Bertrand Aristide has declared war on the Haitian
people," said Evans Paul, a one-time Aristide campaign manager who is now a
leading member of the Democratic Convergence opposition group.
     "It's unacceptable," he told a news conference.
     The rally had been seen as a test of support for the political
opposition and the government's willingness to tolerate dissent at a time
of serious threat to Aristide's authority.
     Aristide's once overwhelming popularity has faded as the majority of
the 8 million people in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country remain in
the grip of deep poverty. Per-capita income is $400 annually.
     Opposition leaders had hoped tens of thousands of supporters would
march to show solidarity with the armed groups.
     The opposition, which in past months has held regular anti-government
marches that have often been met with violence by government loyalists, has
condemned the bloodshed.
     But it said Aristide was to blame for arming street thugs and fueling
political tensions through violence since parliamentary elections in 2000
were declared flawed.
     The armed revolt broke out last Thursday in Gonaives -- birthplace of
Haitian independence from France in 1804 -- when former backers of Aristide
drove out police.
     Critics say Aristide armed the gang, previously known as the Cannibal
Army, with the weapons it has turned on him.
     The government denies any connection and says the gunmen represent the
military arm of political foes trying to stage a coup against Haiti's first
democratically elected leader.
     The revolt appears to have reached an uneasy stalemate after armed
militia backing the president joined the police in fighting back, burning
down opponents' homes and killing rebels.
     Andre Apaid, who heads an opposition coalition called Group of 184,
said on Thursday the rebels in Gonaives should be disarmed but that a way
must be found to do that without getting them killed.
     Opposition leaders announced they would try again to have a peaceful
demonstration on Sunday in Petionville, an affluent suburb in the hills
above the capital where the opposition has broader support than in poorer
areas of Port-au-Prince.