25080: Wharram - News - Haitian students march for lower food and gas prices, less violence (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

>From Bruce Wharram <bruce.wharram@sev.org>

Haitian students march for lower food and gas prices, less violence
AP
Thursday, May 12, 2005

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - UN peacekeepers shot into the air yesterday to
break up a protest by university students who pushed Brazilian soldiers in
front of the interim prime minister's office.

About 200 students marched in the capital of Port-au-Prince to protest high
gasolene and food prices and the interim government's failure to control
mounting political and criminal violence.

The students marched for about three hours, closely followed by United
Nations troops in jeeps and Haitian police. They stopped in front of interim
Prime Minister Gerard Latortue's office, shouting at peacekeepers guarding
the entrance.
Protesters spit and pounded on a UN vehicle that tried to enter, yelling:
"Down with the UN!"

After students started shoving soldiers, Brazilian troops fired about a
dozen shots into the air. The crowd dispersed, and no was injured.

A 7,400-member UN peacekeeping force and the US-backed interim government
have struggled to control armed groups more than a year after the February
2004 rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Pro- and anti-Aristide gangs have strongholds in the slums of
Port-au-Prince, while former soldiers who helped oust him still control
parts of the countryside and refuse to disarm. Several recent protests have
ended in bloodshed, with Haitian police firing into crowds.

Critics warn insecurity could thwart general elections planned for October
and November.

Haitians have also been complaining about the rising costs of basics like
rice, toothpaste and fuel. The interim government has blamed soaring world
oil prices and has promised to address the problem.

In the months leading up to Aristide's ouster, thousands of university
students took to the streets to protest alleged government violence against
political opponents.

"We've been watching this government, and it's not doing anything," said
Wisley Joseph, 25, a communications student. "So we are back on the
streets."