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One dead in pro-Preval protests in Haiti
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-14 09:04
Supporters of Haitian presidential candidate Rene Preval erected smoldering
roadblocks across the capital and occupied a luxury hotel Monday. At least one
protester was killed, but U.N. peacekeepers denied witness accounts that they
had shot him.
As Port-au-Prince descended into chaos, Preval returned to the capital for
the first time since the election Tuesday. He was the clear winner with about 90
percent of the votes counted, but supporters claimed electoral officials were
tampering with results to prevent him from getting the majority he needs to
avoid a runoff.
Barricades made of old tires were ablaze across the capital, sending plumes
of acrid black smoke into the sky. Protesters let only journalists and Red Cross
vehicles pass.
"If they don't give us the final results, we're going to burn this country
down!" a protester screamed.
Haitian presidential candidate Rene Preval,
second right, listens to U.N. special envoy to Haiti Juan Gabriel Valdes,
right, upon his arrival from his hometown of Marmelade to the U.N. base in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Feb. 13, 2006.
[AP] | The election will replace an interim government installed after former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a bloody rebellion two years ago.
A popularly elected government with a clear mandate from the voters is seen as
crucial to avoiding a political and economic meltdown in the Western
Hemisphere's poorest nation. Gangs have gone on kidnapping sprees and factories
have closed for lack of security.
Preval arrived in the capital aboard a U.N. helicopter from his rural home in
north Haiti.
"We have questions about the electoral process," he told reporters after
meeting with the top U.N. official in Haiti and ambassadors from the United
States, France, Canada and Brazil. "We want to see how we can save the process."
Preval also planned to meet with the interim prime minister and president.
Special U.N. envoy to Haiti, Juan Gabriel Valdes, said Preval wanted to ask
the Haitian people to be calm and patient.
"He indicated to us ... that he wanted to call on the Haitian people to be
peaceful and to be patient," Valdez told The Associated Press.
Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue appealed for calm in a nationally
broadcast address. "People, don't stay in the streets," he said. "I'm asking you
to go home. ... The transitional government is not stealing your vote."
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