27173: Craig (news) CNN: Haitians strike to protest gang kidnappings (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig


Haitians strike to protest gang kidnappings

Monday, January 9, 2006; Posted: 12:48 p.m. EST (17:48 GMT)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Most businesses, even riotously colored "tap-tap" 
buses, ground to a halt Monday in a general strike to protest kidnappings that 
have terrified Haiti's capital and cast a shadow over troubled efforts to 
restore democracy.

The general strike in this Caribbean nation was called by the Haitian Chamber 
of Commerce and Industry to pressure U.N. peacekeepers to move against gangs -- 
allegedly loyal to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- who have carried 
out many of the kidnappings.

But leaders of the peacekeeping force were occupied Monday with their own 
tragedy -- the death Saturday of their commander, Brazilian Lt. Gen. Urano 
Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, in an apparent suicide.

Several hundred Brazilian peacekeepers stood in formation Monday outside a 
military hospital and saluted Bacellar's coffin, draped in Brazilian and U.N. 
flags. Diplomats and military officials praised Bacellar as a compassionate 
soldier who was deeply committed to restoring law and order to Haiti following 
the rebellion that toppled Aristide nearly two years ago.

Chilean Gen. Eduardo Aldunate Herman, interim commander of the 7,400 
peacekeeping troops in the country, said Bacellar's death would not undermine 
efforts to stabilize Haiti for a presidential election. The country's electoral 
council said the vote will take place on February 7, after four postponements.

"Be certain, Gen. Bacellar, that we continue to accomplish the mission and our 
best proof of loyalty to you will be to ensure that peace and security reach 
every corner of this country," Aldunate said.

Bacellar was found shot to death Saturday on the balcony of his room in the 
upscale Hotel Montana. A senior U.N. official has confirmed to The Associated 
Press that the general shot himself in the head. Authorities have not yet 
officially disclosed the cause of death, citing the ongoing investigation.

Brazilian Ambassador Paulo Cordeiro de Andrade Pinto told the AP on Monday that 
he saw a gun next to the general's body but that Brazilian investigators want 
to investigate other possibilities before confirming it was a suicide. He 
declined to specify what those possibilities were.

Pinto said the general was a longtime friend but that he did not detect any 
change in Bacellar's normally "serious" personality in a conversation they had 
on Friday night.

"I never imagined that a man of his caliber could do what most people think he 
did," Pinto said.

Difficulties in distributing voter registration cards and setting up polling 
stations contributed to postponements in staging the elections, in which 35 
candidates are running for president and hundreds more for 129 legislative 
seats.

But the kidnappings for ransom have added to the uncertainty. International 
election workers and journalists have been among those taken hostage by gangs 
and stashed in the sprawling slums while ransom payments were negotiated. 
Ordinary Haitians have also been targeted.

The one-day strike in Port-au-Prince left people sitting idly on street corners 
or waiting hopelessly for a bus, an economic blow for a city rife with 
unemployment. Gas stations, supermarkets and banks were all closed.

On the trash-strewn streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, Rodrig Paul was angry 
after a lack of customers led him to close the stall where he sells batteries.

"This is a rich person's strike," Paul snapped.

But others said recent kidnappings have targeted people from all walks of life.

"The violence has threatened everyone poor or rich, Haitian or non-Haitian," 
the pricey Hotel Villa Creole said in a letter to guests after it cut back on 
services for the day.

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http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/01/09/haiti.ap/index.html