Fifth person dies in Haitian food price protests

Fifth person dies in Haitian food price protests

April 8, 2008
Caribbean Net News

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): A man was killed by gunfire as demonstrators took to the streets in the southern Haitian city of Les Cayes on Monday, raising the death toll to five in protests against rising food prices, officials and radio reports said.

Protesters also marched outside the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, the capital of the impoverished Caribbean nation of nearly 9 million people, expressing anger at the higher cost of food.

Four people were killed and 20 others were hurt in a riot in Les Cayes last week. UN vehicles were burned, peacekeepers were attacked and a food warehouse was looted by angry mobs on Thursday and Friday.

In response to the unrest, Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis announced a multimillion-dollar investment program aimed at lowering the cost of living.

Haitians protest the high cost of living in front of the Haitian Parliament in Port-au-Prince. AFP PHOTO

Prices of rice and other essentials have doubled and in some cases tripled, sparking protests since Wednesday in Gonaives, Petit-Goave and other cities against the government of President Rene Preval, whose 2006 election brought relative calm after decades of violence and political upheaval.

The head of the United Nations World Food Program warned on Monday that a global surge in food prices could lead to further tensions. Unrest related to food and fuel costs has recently hit Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal, it said.

"A new face of hunger is emerging; even where food is available on the shelves, there are now more and more people who simply cannot afford it," WFP director Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

Tensions remained high in Les Cayes, one of Haiti's largest cities. Gunfire erupted on Monday when protesters tried to storm the home of a senator, Gabriel Fortune, and two men were wounded, according to a city official.

One of the men died later at a hospital, he said.

"The government is solely responsible for what is happening today because it has failed to properly address the problems," resident Maxon Benoit said on Sunday. "Why don't they eliminate taxes on food products and give the population a break?"

Les Cayes Mayor Pierre Yvon Chery was attacked on Sunday by angry protesters when he went to the seaside neighborhood of La Savane to explain measures enacted by the government to help calm the unrest.

Residents said the violence was the worst Les Cayes had seen in years.

"This is a shame for us, inhabitants of this city known for its calm, its hospitality and its civility," said 45-year-old Marie Jeanne Occeant. "It is true the situation is unbearable. I have not seen such hardships my whole life, but the violence can only make it worse."

Over the weekend, UN and Haitian security forces helped clean streets in Les Cayes, where barricades of burning tires and the shells of wrecked cars were erected.

"We have reinforced our police contingents with specialized units from Port-au-Prince and a new battalion of Brazilian troops has also arrived in support," said Henriot Toussaint, police chief for the southern region. "We have the situation under control."

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