30048: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-UN-Peacekeeper Parody (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 19 (AP) -- Songs lampooning politicians have always
been a fixture of Haiti's carnival, but this year, musicians have a new
favorite target: U.N. peacekeepers.
   The airwaves have been filled with satirical songs about the U.N. force,
known by its French acronym MINUSTAH, which has been trying to restore
order to Haiti since the 2004 rebellion that toppled President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   "MINUSTAH, you're really just a tourista. You're holding back my
country," the group Vwadezil sings in one popular song. "You're just
lounging around so why don't you get ... out."
   The songs, known as "meringues," add a political dimension to the
three-day carnival celebrations. The rum-fueled festivities bring even more
chaos to the bustling streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, with tens of
thousands of people dancing to live bands on floats.
   Haiti's government spent $2 million on this year's carnival, hoping to
lure tourists, especially Haitians living in the United States.
   The former French colony, plagued since independence with political
upheaval and dire poverty, has a long history of skewering public
institutions during carnival.
   U.N. troops are only the latest addition to a rhetorical menu that
typically includes crooked government officials, outgunned police and
kidnappers who prey on the population of 8 million.
   The peacekeepers have recently become more aggressive in battling the
gangs blamed for rampant kidnappings. On Sunday, they captured a gang
leader known as Ti Bazil in the Cite Soleil slum.
   But many Haitians feel that the force, which combines soldiers and
police from more than a dozen countries, has been too slow in stemming
violence.
   "MINUSTAH, you've invaded our country, you must make things better," the
popular group T-Vice warns in one of its meringues.
   Other meringues accuse U.N. bureaucrats of spending more time dining in
posh restaurants and sunning themselves on the beach than working to solve
the poor country's troubles.
   "Since the U.N. is now a part of our society, I touch upon it in my
music," the band Vwadezil's lead singer, Fresh La, said in an interview.
"They're taking a long time to bring peace to the country, and that's
keeping us from moving forward."
   The U.N. mission takes the jabs in stride.
   "I think it's part of the Haitian tradition of carnival to make fun of
things, even serious things," said Edmond Mulet, the special U.N.
representative to Haiti. "It's a way of conveying some sentiments which are
genuine and I don't blame for them that. On the contrary, I think they
should be welcomed."
   Some singers have caused problems for the U.N., however.
   At last year's carnival, the group Demele performed a profanity-laced
song that accused peacekeepers of stealing goats belonging to peasants.
Despite denials by the U.N. mission, the accusation spread through the
streets and became a common chant during anti-U.N. street protests.
   "That song caused a lot of issues between MINUSTAH and the population,"
said that group's frontman, also known as Demele. He alleged that the
offending lyric got him uninvited from this year's carnival lineup.
   U.N. officials and carnival organizers denied censoring any artists.
   "Musicians have the right to write any song they like," said Yanick
Louis, a member of the carnival's artistic committee.
   And despite the harsh tone of some songs, other artists said they mean
no offense.
   "I ridicule the U.N. in the spirit of carnival, which is about having
fun and letting go," Vwadezil's Fresh La said.