a1814: Protesters attack motorists in Haitian capital (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 29 (Reuters) - Protesting poverty and the
lack of jobs, groups of Haitians burned tires and attacked cars along busy
city streets of the capital on Monday.
     One of the protesters was shot and wounded in what police described as
a brief exchange of fire. There were no reports of arrests or injury to
motorists.
     Roads in the Delmas and Nazon districts were temporarily blocked as
dozens of protesters set up flaming barricades and threw bottles at cars.
     Such protests, which are not organized by any particular group and
appear to involve young people venting their frustrations, are fairly
common in the Caribbean nation of 8 million people.
     Some of the protesters said they were acting out of desperation in the
face of Haiti's chronic poverty and what they charge as indifference on the
part of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government.
     "We want jobs," a young man at one roadblock told reporters. "We want
the president to help the people."
     Haiti has seen an upsurge in political and social unrest in recent
months.
     Foreign aid worth some $500 million has been stalled pending
resolution of a two-year-old political impasse between the government and
its opponents, adding to a grim economic outlook for the nation.