Following the example of past student movements that helped topple two presidents, university students marched against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday in a protest marred by bloody clashes that left at least two dead and more than two dozen injured.
Aristide partisans armed with clubs, bottles and pistols swooped down from pickups to block the marchers, who were joined by thousands of anti-government demonstrators shouting "Freedom!" and "Down with Aristide!" as riot police fired shots to keep government partisans away.
PHOTO: AP
At the beginning of the protest, Aristide partisans attacked demonstrators, hitting one with a rock and shooting another. Later, police shot and killed an Aristide supporter after he opened fire on the crowd. One anti-government protester also was shot and killed.
At another leg of the march, government partisans opened fire, wounding two demonstrators. The Aristide supporters, known as chimeres or thugs, then surrounded a group of students, stabbing one and beating six others. Students beat two Aristide supporters.
News reports said that 30 people were injured and being treated at hospitals.
"We have no future," student Rodeny Williams said Wednesday as he marched to shouts of support by shopkeepers and street vendors. "We are not afraid."
Gunfire crackled throughout the day as smoke billowed from burning tire barricades and demonstrators regrouped when Aristide supporters attacked with bullets and rocks. Organizers stopped the march when police warned they could no longer guarantee security.
The anti-government demonstrators and students accuse Aristide of hoarding power and failing to help the poor. In a country where an estimated 40 percent of the 8 million people are under 18, the student's wishes carry weight and have historical clout.
Student protests and strikes helped oust former President Elie Lescot in 1946, followed by former President Paul Magloire in 1956. Their opposition also led to the weakening of the Duvalier family dictatorship, which imprisoned many students during its 29-year regime until 1986.
The marchers join a swelling youth protest movement as many face a bleak future. Most Haitians are jobless or without regular work, foreign investment is at a standstill and foreign visas to countries such as the US and France are increasingly hard to obtain.
"Under Aristide there will be no progress," said protester Leopold Willeens, a 26-year-old student who hopes to start a publicity agency. "I'm the first student in my family to go to university, and I want a better life."
Aristide rose to power by making promises to the poor and to the youth. In 1986, he helped start a home for street children, but his popularity among the youth was already waning when he proposed a new leader for Haiti's state-run university in 2002.
The government removed University of Haiti Rector Pierre-Marie Paquiot, saying Paquiot's mandate was up, and appointed an interim board.
But the students protested the removal of Paquiot and accused the government of violating the constitution, which protects the university's autonomy.
Paquiot was reinstated and has since become an icon of the student protest movement.
Last month, at least two dozen were injured in violence that broke out after police separated dozens of Aristide backers from about 100 students. Paquiot was beaten with an iron bar and at least four students were shot and wounded.
Student demonstrations have surged along with protests by others. Members of civic groups, clergy, business leaders and artists who oppose Aristide joined Wednesday's march.
"The signal we're sending today is that we want another Haiti," said Andy Apaid Jr., a businessman and prominent Aristide critic.
Tensions have been rising in the Caribbean country since Aristide's party swept disputed 2000 elections.
The opposition refuses to participate in elections unless Aristide steps down, but he plans to serve out his elected term until 2006.
Haitian sociologist Laennec Hurbon, who as a student fled to Paris under Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, said unlike past university students who were wealthier and against widely unpopular governments, the students today come from poor families who helped propel Aristide to power.
"Haiti has its own rhythm," said Hurbon. "To know the future, you must know its past, and the students have been a very important part of the past."
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