Federico Fuentes

In the wake of the devastation wreaked by tropical storm Jeanne, Haitians have had to deal with armed looters attacking food depots containing international aid. In the flood-hit city of Gonaives, armed gangs, who earlier this year helped oust populist President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, have attacked trucks carrying bottled water and snatched boxes of milk and bags of rice from food-aid stores.

At the same time, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has presided over a wave of repression against supporters of Aristide's Lavalas party. This repression has involved the arrest of three former parliamentarians, and the death of 14. Latortue was installed as interim prime minister following Aristide's overthrow in a US-supported coup last year. Shortly afterwards UN troops were deployed to help stabilise the new regime.

Early last month, the Haitian National Police fired upon nearly 10,000 Aristide supporters, killing 10. According to the Haiti Information Project (HIP) (<http://www.haitiaction.org>), Brazilian troops present did nothing to stop the violence. Three former Lavalas parliamentarians, and senators Yvon Feuille, Gerard Gilles and Rudy Herivaux were arrested four days later during a radio program in which they criticised the interim government.

Paramilitary forces carried out a number of shootings in the days after the rally, targeting Aristide supporters. In an October 3 dispatch, HIP noted “Reports are surfacing from many neighbourhoods in the capital of paramilitary forces aligned with the US-backed regime of Latortue patrolling at night and shooting suspected supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide”.

Fifty-two-year-old Gladys, who declined to give her last name, was quoted by HIP saying: “They stop you and ask you political questions about Aristide and Lavalas. They ask you what you think about Latortue. If they think you like Aristide they will shoot you where you stand. I saw two young men I know that were killed that way. We are terrified.”

Despite the repression, Aristide supporters took to the streets again on October 4. Latortue's government has called for more assistance in the form of UN troops. At the moment there are only 3091 UN troops out of an authorised 6700 deployment. The troops, mainly from Chile, Brazil and Argentina, have mostly stood aside as right-wing military and paramilitary forces have begun to reconstitute the brutal Haitian Armed Forces, disbanded under Aristide in 1995.

From Green Left Weekly, October 13, 2004.
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