29823: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-US-Drugs (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 10 (AP) -- The U.S. defended on Wednesday its
anti-drug efforts in Haiti, two days after the Caribbean nation's president
accused America and other major drug-consuming countries of failing to
adequately fight the narcotics trade.
   In a strongly worded speech to Parliament on Monday, President Rene
Preval called drug trafficking the main cause of instability in his
impoverished nation and said failed efforts by the United States and other
countries to stop the trade had made Haiti a "victim."
   U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Shaila B. Manyam said Wednesday the United
States has undertaken a range of measures to defend Haiti against drug
trafficking, including strengthening its weak justice system and training
its coast guard.
   The U.S. has also contributed more than $40 million to Haiti's national
police since 2004, Manyam said.
   "The United States shares Haiti's concern about drug trafficking,"
Manyam said. "Our two countries have a long history of cooperation on
combatting this scourge and that cooperation will continue."
   Drug traffickers have long taken advantage of Haiti's weak defenses and
vulnerable coastline to smuggle in cocaine bound for the United States,
Canada and Europe.
   Manyam said Preval's comments "indicate the government of Haiti shares
our strong commitment to deal with the threats to stability and security
posed by drug trafficking."
   Preval's cash-strapped government has struggled to contain gang violence
sparked by a bloody 2004 revolt that ousted former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected leader.
   Ransom-seeking gangs have kidnapped dozens of people in recent weeks,
prompting criticism that police and an 8,800-strong U.N. peacekeeping force
are not doing enough to fight crime.
   U.N. troops and police have stepped up patrols in recent days and
arrested two suspected kidnappers.