Thread: Haitians killed in riot over food prices

Apr 4, 8:50 PM EDT


Haitians killed in riot over food prices

By JONATHAN M. KATZ
Associated Press Writer

Interactives
Food Aid Rots in Haiti Ports
Haiti's Poor Resort to Eating Dirt


Latest Haiti News
Haitians killed in riot over food prices
UN chief says Haiti remains fragile

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- At least three Haitians were killed and 25 others injured amid food riots and clashes with U.N. peacekeepers on Friday, a mission spokeswoman and Haitian radio said.

A young man was shot in the head and killed Friday morning during the protests in southern Haiti. It was not immediately clear who shot him, although protesters blamed U.N. troops for the death.

U.N. soldiers fired back because they were fired upon, said U.N. spokeswoman Sophie Boutaud de la Combe. She said the mission has opened an investigation into the death but declined to provide any other details, citing a lack of information.

At least two other people were found dead in other parts of Les Cayes where rioting occurred on Friday, Radio Kiskeya reported. It was not clear how they died. Boutaud said the U.N. mission was not aware of those deaths.

Nine people were treated for bullet wounds and four others were arrested, Boutaud said. A U.N. soldier was slightly injured.

Thousands of Haitians blocked roads and looted stores in the southern town of Les Cayes on a second day of protest against high food prices. They also burned cars and tore down the front gate of a U.N. base.

Additional troops have been sent for reinforcement, Boutaud said.

Several demonstrators have chanted in support of Guy Philippe, a fugitive rebel leader with a pending U.S. federal drug trafficking charge. Agents recently raided his home about 18 miles north of Les Cayes.

Food prices are rising worldwide but the problem hits hard in Haiti, where 80 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day. Rice, beans, fruit and condensed milk have gone up 50 percent from last year, while the cost of pasta has doubled.

The food crisis threatens the country's fragile security, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report this week.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.


Link

Slideshows at above link

Food Aid Rots in Haiti Ports
While millions of Haitians go hungry, containers full of food are stacking up in the nation's ports because of government red tape - leaving tons of beans, rice and other staples to rot under a sweltering sun or be devoured by vermin.


Haitian Mud Cookies
The people of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, have long prized the dirt as a rich source of calcium and an effective antacid. But for some in the country's most desperate quarters, where thousands buckle under rising food prices and rampant unemployment, mud has become a daily staple.

Mud cakes coming to a city, State, Country near you ... learn the recipe America... we are going to need it