Soldiers watch looters

Press, 31 January 1986, Page 8

Soldiers watch looters

NZPA-Reuter Cap Haitien, Haiti Thousands of Haitians raided the warehouse of the United States aid organisation Care in Cap Haitien yesterday, hauling away supplies of cooking oil and wheat as troops and militiamen stood by. The crowd converged on the warehouse near the seafront at nightfall after a day of the biggest anti-Government protests in the northern harbour town.

Troops and militiamen were close to the building but took no action as the crowd, from slum dwellings nearby, broke into the warehouse and battled

with each other over giant oil canisters and 50kg sacks of wheat.

Diplomats who arrived from the capital to observe the situation said the attack on the depot appeared to be one of the most significant developments in the wave of protests against the Presi-dent-for-Life, Mr JeanClaude Duvalier.

Earlier, the protesters who surrounded the local police station clearly made a point of chanting “long live the Army,” as well as slogans against the President.

Although troops did not fire their weapons during the demonstrations, at one point they fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Haiti is one of the poor-

est countries in the world. Most people live on little more than SUSIOO ($190) a year. Many protesters said people were tired of starving while reading of their President’s opulent life.

Tens of thousands of people danced and swayed through the narrow streets, cursing Mr Duvalier, while thousands more cheered from balconies and doorways. Three people died and 38 were injured in protests earlier in the week. Church-run radio stations also reported protests against the Government in other provincial towns, including Les Cayes, in the south where protesters looted food warehouses run by Pro-

testant and Catholic aid. groups.

Students, who are in the forefront of the protests, predicted that within three weeks Mr Duvalier would be “President only of his palace" if not ousted altogether.

Mr Duvalier has ruled since 1971, when his father, Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier, who came to power in 1957, died.

The students’ called for a general strike from February 12 to 20, instead of the traditional Mardi Gras carnival.

The capital, Port-au-Prince, remained quiet while many of the city’s one million residents huddled round radios to follow the events at Cap Haitien.