25139: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Protest (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PETER PRENGAMAN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 18 (AP) -- U.N. peacekeepers maintained alert as
more than 5,000 supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
marched in Haiti's capital Wednesday to demand his return from exile.
   The peaceful three-hour march zigzagged through the capital, starting in
two slums bordering Port-au-Prince, but never came close to the National
Palace or any other important government buildings.
   Aristide speeches blared on loudspeakers, protesters carried Haitian
flags plastered with stickers of the former priest and some held framed
photographs of him in one of the largest demonstrations in recent months.
   Dozens of U.N. peacekeepers in armored vehicles and jeeps monitored the
march. A 7,400-member U.N. force has been in Haiti since last year and the
United Nations will soon determine whether to extend the one-year mandate
when it expires June 1.
   Aristide was ousted in a 1991 military coup and then came back to power
in 1994, but was forced to flee again after a three-week armed rebellion
led by former soldiers in February 2004. He is now in exile in South
Africa. An interim government headed by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue now
rules.
   Without Aritisde "we have no hope. There is nothing for us with this
government. We can only look forward to death," said 37-year-old Printemps
Belizaire, who is unemployed.
   Haiti, a former French colony of 8 million people, is the Western
Hemisphere's poorest country. Most people survive on less than a $1 a day.
   Elections have been scheduled for October and November. Hundreds have
been killed in political violence since September, when Aristide supporters
stepped up protests to demand his return from exile.
   In 1990, Aristide became Haiti's first democratically-elected leader,
but served only seven months of his term before a military coup ousted him,
sending him into exile first in Venezuela and then in the United States.
The United States sent 20,000 troops to restore him in 1994.