27167: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti capital paralyzed by strike over kidnappings (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Posted by
 Greg Chamberlain

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The Haitian capital was
paralyzed on Monday by a general strike called to protest a wave of
kidnappings and what some Haitians see as U.N. inaction in the face of
out-of-control crime.
     Organized by business leaders who have been urging the U.N force to be
more muscular in cracking down on slum gangs as the country struggles to
organize elections, the strike emptied shops and streets in the usually
chaotic and bustling city.
     Police sources say 1,900 people have been kidnapped in Port-au-Prince
in the past 10 months, despite the presence of 9,000 U.N. troops and police
sent to keep the peace after the February 2004 ouster of then-President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
     The impoverished Caribbean country's business sector and rich elite
blame the violence on gangs affiliated with Aristide's Lavalas Family party
and want the United Nations to be more aggressive against them.
     The U.N. mission, rocked over the weekend by the apparent suicide of
its Brazilian commander, has angrily rejected charges of complacency.
     The violence is one reason Haiti has repeatedly postponed its first
presidential election since Aristide was chased into exile by an armed
revolt. Originally scheduled in November, the ballot is now set for Feb. 7.
     "Of course, like the rich people, I reject and protest the
kidnappings," said street vendor Jeanne Martineau.
     "But I think there is a hidden motive behind the movement. I think
they observed the strike just because they are targets for kidnappings and
not because they care for the poor masses."
     Police said they had arrested several people in the upscale
Petionville suburb of the capital who had been throwing bottles at
commuters queuing at a bus stop, presumably to try to get to work. Gunmen
also fired some rounds in other parts of the capital in what police said
was an apparent attempt to persuade any dissenters to remain at home and
observe the strike.
     The interim government, appointed after Aristide fled, issued no
statement on the strike.
     The United Nations force, known by its acronym MINUSTAH, said that
together with Haitian police, it had conducted an operation on Sunday and
freed three kidnap victims.
     U.N. mission chief Juan Gabriel Valdes on Sunday denounced what he
described as a campaign of hatred against MINUSTAH, led principally by
privately owned radio stations that accuse the U.N. force of being in
cohorts with kidnappers.
     "The slander and promotion of hatred against MINUSTAH and the
international community are contrary to international law," Valdes told
reporters.