22179: (Chamberlain) Brazilian peacekeeping troops leave for Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     BRASILIA, Brazil, May 31 (Reuters) - Some 150 Brazilian troops left
for Haiti on Monday as Brazil prepared to take over leadership of the U.N.
peacekeeping mission in the Caribbean nation and show its commitment to
Latin American stability.
     "The crisis in Haiti is going to demand a long-term commitment from
the international community to support its economic and institutional
reconstruction," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told a departure
ceremony for the troops.
     Brazil has offered its largest-ever U.N. peacekeeping force of 1,200
for Haiti as it attempts to build a role as a regional crisis mediator and
win a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
     A small Brazilian contingent of 42 troops arrived in Haiti on
Saturday. They will be joined by the 150-strong force on Tuesday. The main
body of the Brazilian unit will arrive in mid-June.
     Brazil's soldiers will provide the core of a U.N.-mandated force of
6,700 troops and 1,622 police set to replace a U.S.-led force on the island
by the end of June.
     The U.S.-led contingent entered Haiti in February after a revolt
killed more than 200 people and forced former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide into exile.
     Brazil offered to lead the peacekeeping mission on condition it got
international support to rebuild the poorest nation in the Americas.