Port-au-Prince, Monday
HAITIAN police armed with clubs and semi-automatic weapons beat
demonstrators Monday as they chanted slogans in support of the country's
ousted President, witnesses said.
More than a dozen uniformed police and plainclothes militiamen hit the
demonstrators and chased them away from outside the port entrance where
they had gathered to joyfully greet US troops.
Hundreds of people ran through the streets of the downtown area away
from the menacing police as US troops in battle gear stood several
metres away inside the port facility.
In the struggle to flee the violence, dozens of Haitians lost shoes,
which ended up in the middle of the road.
The incident was the only reported trouble on a day in which 2000
American soldiers came to Haiti as part of a mission to restore
democracy and keep the peace during the handover of power from the
military to exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Many people found it difficult to believe that the army commander, Lt.
Gen. Raoul Cedras, would actually return power to President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
''I hope this time they (the military leaders) will respect the accord
they signed -- to give Haiti a chance to live,'' said Levy Cadet, 45, a
restaurant security guard. He recalled the military's refusal to honour
an agreement with the United Nations to let Aristide return last
October.
Thousands of mostly poor Haitians had gathered to welcome the US
troops and shout support for the President they elected in a landslide
victory in December 1990.
''I think it's great. We didn't want Haitians to die. God must really
like Haitians,'' said one of the people standing at the shore. ''We are
free! We are free!'' shouted one man, skipping down a pier. ''I'm
American! And now we're going to have to speak English,'' he said in
Creole.
Others around him agreed that Haitian refugees would come home if US
troops imposed order.
However, opponents of Aristide indicated they were none too happy with
the arrival of the troops.
''I'm not in a mood to say anything,'' said Senator Abrene Cadet, who
does not favour the return of Aristide. ''You cannot ask me if I'm happy
about an American occupation.'' -- Reuter and AP.
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