|
|
|
Last Updated: Apr 14, 2008 - 8:06:52 PM |
Police cleared roadblocks and protesters again burned tires Wednesday as anticipation built for a speech by Haiti's president to calm anger over high food prices.
President Rene Preval, who has made no public statements since the unrest began last week, was expected to make an address that could help determine the course of the demonstrations — and his government.
"I believe if President Preval talks to the people about the high cost of living, people will listen to the president and go home," said Sen. Joseph Lambert, a former senate president, to The Associated Press. "If not, if there is an attempt at a coup d'etat to remove the president, things will get worse."
Anger over food prices in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has become the largest challenge to Preval since he was elected in 2006. Rioters demanding his resignation attempted to break through the gates of the presidential palace Tuesday before U.N. peacekeepers chased them away with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Haitian national television broadcast a message Wednesday that a speech from the palace was imminent.
Black rubber smoke rose from intersections in Petionville, where many diplomats and foreigners live. Roads were blocked leading to upscale neighborhoods in the mountains above Port-au-Prince.
"We hope the president says food prices are going to go down," said Paul Fleury, a 53-year-old man who said he has been unemployed for a decade. "I have five kids and I just provide food if I can. Some days it's bread and sugar."
The streets of Port-au-Prince were mostly quiet Wednesday morning as police cleared away torched cars and other debris left by two days of looting and rioting.
Several people have been injured by bullets and rocks in the capital, including a Haitian police officer, U.N. police spokesman Fred Blaise said.
The U.S. Embassy suspended visa services and routine operations Wednesday because of the violence, and it advised Americans in Port-au-Prince and Les Cayes to remain indoors. Embassy buildings were pelted with rocks Tuesday but there were no reports of injuries to U.S. citizens.
Food prices, which have risen 40 percent on average since mid-2007, are causing unrest around the world. But nowhere do they pose a greater threat to democracy than in Haiti, where most people live on less than US$2 (euro1.27) a day.
The protests began a week ago in the southern city of Les Cayes and escalated as protesters tried to burn down a U.N. compound and leaving five people dead.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Monday.
On Wednesday Radio Caraibes reported that a U.N. vehicle was damaged in Jeremie, across the mountains north of Les Cayes.
The protesters also demand the departure of the 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers they blame in part for rising food prices. The peacekeepers came to Haiti in 2004 to quell the chaos that followed the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
