Business ground to a halt in a general strike called to protest a wave of kidnappings that has terrified people and cast a shadow over already troubled efforts to restore democracy in Haiti.
The Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry called Monday's strike to pressure UN peacekeepers to move against gangs -- allegedly loyal to ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- who have carried out many of the kidnappings.
But leaders of the peacekeeping force were preoccupied with their own tragedy -- the weekend death of their most senior commander, Brazilian Lieutenant General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, in an apparent suicide.
Brazilian peacekeepers stood in formation on Monday outside a military hospital and saluted Bacellar's coffin, draped in Brazilian and UN flags, while diplomats and military officials praised the general as a compassionate soldier deeply committed to restoring order to Haiti after the rebellion that toppled Aristide nearly two years ago.
Chilean General Eduardo Aldunate Herman, interim commander of the 7,400 peacekeeping troops in the country, said Bacellar's death would not undermine efforts to stabilize Haiti for a presidential election scheduled to take place on Feb. 7, after four postponements.
"Be certain, General Bacellar, that we continue to accomplish the mission and our best proof of loyalty to you will be to ensure that peace and security reach every corner of this country," Aldunate said.
Bacellar was found dead of a gunshot wound on Saturday, slumped against the balcony of his room in the upscale Hotel Montana. A senior UN official has confirmed that the general shot himself in the head. Authorities have not yet officially disclosed the cause of death, citing the ongoing investigation.
Brazilian Ambassador Paulo Cordeiro de Andrade Pinto said on Monday that he saw a gun next to the general's body but that Brazilian investigators want to probe other possibilities before confirming it was a suicide. He declined to say what those possibilities were.
Pinto said the general was a longtime friend and he did not detect any change in Bacellar's normally "serious" personality in a conversation they had Friday night.
"I never imagined that a man of his caliber could do what most people think he did," Pinto said.
Brazil's Vice President Jose Alencar said on Monday that his country intended to remain at the helm of peacekeeping operations in Haiti and a UN official in New York said discussions had begun on finding a replacement to lead the effort to restore order ahead of next month's election.
Difficulties in distributing voter registration cards and setting up polling stations contributed to postponements in elections, in which 35 candidates are running for president and hundreds more for 129 legislative seats.
But kidnappings for ransom have added to the uncertainty. International election workers and journalists were among those taken hostage by gangs. Ordinary Haitians also have been targeted.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS