Yeah, this is a few days late.
Rioters return to capital of Haiti as food cost hits world poor
by James Bone
The Haitian capital was paralysed by food riots yesterday as the United Nations gave warning that soaring food prices were spurring unrest around the world.
Rioters returned to the streets in Port-au-Prince a day after UN peacekeepers had to fire rubber bullets to prevent hungry Haitians from storming the presidential palace. Columns of smoke rose over the city as demonstrators, demanding that the Government take action over the rising price of foodstuffs such as rice, beans and oil, set fire to barricades made from tyres.
At least five people have been killed and more than 20 injured. Protesters compared the burning hunger in their stomachs to bleach or battery acid.
President Préval made a televised address last night appealing for calm, and said he would meet food importers to try to lower prices. “The solution to the high cost of living is global and we are paying the price for all the bad policies applied for 20 years in Haiti,” he said. “The demonstrations and destruction won’t make the prices go down or resolve the country’s problems,” Mr Préval said. “On the contrary, this can make the misery grow and prevent investment in the country.”
A friend living in Petionville says:
“1. THE PAID GUYS (Breakers)
They represent 10% of the supporters
Uneducated Haitians are very easy to manipulate and
to use for other hidden purposes. There are people paid to attack shops and businesses, break windows, etc. The police and MINUSTAH have to stay calm, protect people as much as possible, and definitely not shoot at them. If they do that,they will be the bad guys and pay the price.
The violent protesters hope to stop any positive development in Haiti and once again send a bad image of Haiti abroad. Like this, nobody wants to come and invest in Haiti.
All this will lead to more corruption in all ways of life and let drug-traffikers and “contrebandiers” to do their ugly business as usual.
I read this on one of the Haitian websites.
‘The reason why some of them went like savages to violate private property, is because the ones who should be involved in the reconstruction of Haïti are better off when chaos reigns and thus would do anything to make
sure that happens and this includes lawlessness, damage to property and setting people’s business on fire, including their own, and blame it on the whole to better control them by force in the future and thus stop them from any future protest to demand their right as human beings.’
2. High cost of living(food mainly)
They represent 90% of the protesters
These protesters are hungry and mostly non-violent. They just need to feel reassured that Preval is on it and planning something to lower prices of the bare necessities. He needs to stop being so passive. Basically they’re right.”
He left his house two days ago for the first time in about a week and said it was calm…too calm.
Aristede was ousted in 2004 and replaced by Preval. There are still a shitload of Aristede supporters. He manages to keep his hands in the corrupt gun running/drug running bullshit that goes on in Haiti from his spot in Africa.
Tags: aristede, corruption, Haiti, port-au-prince, poverty, preval, riots
