23364: (Chamberlain) Brazilian soldier wounded in Haiti unrest (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

    GONAIVES, Haiti, Oct 9 (Reuters) - A Brazilian soldier with the U.N.
peacekeeping force in Haiti was shot and wounded on Saturday when
peacekeepers and local police faced gunfire in a crackdown on armed gangs
in the Haitian capital.
     In a separate incident in the northern city of Gonaives, devastated
three weeks ago by floods that killed about 3,000 people, a protester was
shot and wounded by police during a visit by government leaders.
     The shooting in the capital, Port-au-Prince, occurred when members of
the Brazilian-led peacekeeping force and the Haitian police conducted a
sweep through Bel-Air. The district is a hotbed of armed gangs, and
protesters calling for the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide have thrown up street barricades in recent days.
     Resentment over Aristide's flight into exile after a bloody armed
revolt in February has simmered among his supporters. In a raid on Bel-Air
on Wednesday, police and peacekeepers arrested 75 people accused of attacks
in the capital.
     When peacekeepers arrived in the slum on Saturday they were shot at,
said U.N. spokesman Toussaint Kongo-Doudou. One Brazilian soldier was
wounded in the leg, he said.
     He said barricades were cleared during the sweep and a number of
weapons were seized.
     Over the past week, clashes between police and criminal gangs and
violence between the gangs have killed 45 people in the capital.
     In Gonaives, reeling from floods that swept down from the mountains
and engulfed much of the city, interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and
interim President Boniface Alexandre were booed by hundreds of protesters
when they visited.
     The protesters blamed authorities for not responding to the disaster.
     Armed groups blocked the main road out of town, trying to prevent the
government motorcade from returning to the capital. Latortue and Alexandre
had flown back and were not in the motorcade.
     One protester was shot and wounded in the leg by police, witnesses
said.
     Earlier, the government leaders were greeted with protests near
Gonaives cathedral where they attended a Mass for the dead. About 1,500
people gathered nearby to shout at Latortue and Alexandre, calling them
thieves and liars.
     "We are dying, we are totally destitute, but Latortue and Boniface
don't seem to care," said Simon Mesidor, 28. "All they have been doing is
lying to the people, and putting money in their pocket."
     In the poorest country in the Americas, relief efforts for Gonaives
have been led by U.N. agencies such as the World Food Program and relief
organizations such as CARE.
     Latortue flew to Gonaives on Sept. 19, the day after the disaster, but
visited only the U.N. military base as much of the city was still under
water.
     "The priority now is to clean up the streets and homes," said Latortue
in a brief speech near the cathedral.
     "They have to assume their responsibility otherwise we are ready to
take up weapons again," said Jonas Janvier, 34.
     Gonaives was where the revolt against Aristide erupted in February,
spreading through the country of eight million people until rebels closed
in on the capital and the United States and France urged him to leave to
avoid a bloodbath.
     At the church service on Saturday, many residents were traumatized
after losing their relatives and homes.
     "I lost my 34-year-old daughter and two grandchildren in the floods, I
don't think I am going to be able to live any longer," said Joasilia
Joseph, 59, sitting in the front pew.