22582: (Chamberlain) Brazil soccer plan thrills Haitian gang members (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, June 30 (Reuters) - A poster of soccer star
Ronaldo in one hand and a Brazilian flag in the other, Haitian gang member
Joel Lafortune dropped to his knees on Wednesday and screamed ecstatically,
"Ronaldo is coming!"
     If many soccer-mad Haitians welcomed the fact that Brazil is leading a
United Nations peacekeeping force in their impoverished and troubled
country, they were even more thrilled to hear the country's legendary
national side plans to visit.
     "If I have a chance to see Ronaldo when he comes, it will be the
greatest day of my life," said Lafortune, better known by his gang name
Black Joe, in Port-au-Prince's slum district of Cite Soleil, where violence
is a way of life.
     Brazilian soccer authorities said on Tuesday the national side will
travel to Haiti in August and bring with it a novel disarmament scheme -- a
Brazil-Haiti match where tickets will be available for people handing in
guns.
     In Haiti's troubled slums, street gangs and political militants with
illegal weapons are often passionate Brazil soccer fans.
     "There's no doubt this initiative will be a great support to the
mission's effort to collect illegal weapons," the commander of U.N. troops
in Haiti, Brazilian Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, told Reuters.
     Brazil took over formal control on Friday from the United States of a
U.N. peacekeeping mission that aims to restore order and pave the way for
elections after the February ouster of former president Jean-Bertrand
Aristide in an armed revolt.
     Soccer is hugely popular in Haiti and five-times world champions
Brazil are the nation's favorite foreign side. In Cite Soleil, several gang
members said they would hand over their weapons to watch the Brazilian
team.
     "It will be my lifetime chance to see Ronaldo, I'll exchange my M-14
for a ticket," a gang member who called himself Don Tutu told Reuters.
     Those with no weapons were concerned that they won't have a chance to
see the game, while others argued whether to support Haiti or Brazil.
     "I won't be against Haiti, it's my country, but I am sorry, I'll
support Brazil," Black Joe said emotionally.
     Many Haitians have adopted Brazil as their home side. When the team
plays many people skip work or leave early and some schools release
students early so students and teachers don't miss the game.
     When the side wins, Haitians take to the streets by the thousands to
celebrate. When it loses, some fans are reduced to tears.
     The enthusiasm includes the toughest parts of town.
     "When I watch Brazil play, it's like a drug -- my hunger, my problems,
my hardships are all gone, forgotten, at least for a while," said Jacques
Milien, 32, a resident of Bel-Air, a slum stronghold of Aristide supporters
that has been restive since the ex-president left the country on Feb. 29