[Peace-discuss] Haiti today: This is a rich person's strike

[Ricky Baldwin]

Not one word on the 1,000-plus people killed in the
streets in the last year, nor the repression, the
jailings without charges, the disappearances.  Not a
word about the massacre in the soccer stadium by
hooded cops and civilian henchmen with machetes, with
UN troops just down the street.  Not much context
either ... a "rebellion" they call it!?!

Thank god for the battery salesman near the end.
-Ricky

Strike in Haiti Brings Commerce to a Halt 
By BEN FOX, Associated Press 
Mon Jan 9, 2006

Business ground to a halt Monday in a general strike
called to protest a wave of kidnappings that has
terrified people and cast a shadow over already
troubled efforts to restore democracy in Haiti.

The Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry called
the strike 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 preoccupied
with their own tragedy — the weekend death of their
most senior commander, Brazilian Lt. Gen. Urano
Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, in an apparent suicide.

Brazilian peacekeepers stood in formation Monday
outside a military hospital and saluted Bacellar's
coffin, draped in Brazilian and U.N. flags, while
diplomats and military officials praised the general
as a compassionate soldier deeply committed to
restoring order to Haiti after 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
scheduled to take place Feb. 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 dead of a gunshot wound Saturday at
his hotel. A senior U.N. official has confirmed to The
Associated Press that the general shot himself in the
head.

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 probe other possibilities before confirming it was
a suicide. He declined to say what those possibilities
were.

Brazil's Vice President Jose Alencar said Monday that
his country intended to remain at the helm of
peacekeeping operations in Haiti and a U.N. official
in New York said discussions had begun on finding a
replacement to lead the effort to restore order ahead
of next months election.

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

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

The one-day strike left people sitting idly on street
corners or waiting hopelessly for a bus, an economic
blow in a country where most people are unemployed.
Gas stations, supermarkets and banks all closed.

Central Port-au-Prince was practically a ghost town,
with a few children kicking a ball and men playing
dominos in the afternoon on a street near the U.S.
Embassy and the mayor's office that is normally choked
with traffic at that hour.

On the trash-strewn streets of downtown
Port-au-Prince, Rodrig Paul was angry after he closed
his stall where he sells batteries. "This is a rich
person's strike," he said.
But others noted the 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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