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The Haitian political crisis fell into a dead end with the government and the opposition holding polarized positions and the international community delayed answer to the government's request for aid.
The crisis began on Feb. 5, when an uprising in Gonaives, Haiti's fourth largest city, left dozens of people dead and many more injured.
On Wednesday, the police in the country's second-largest city Cap-Haitien retreated to their station and said they could not repel a threatened rebel attack. The rebels have chased police out of more than a dozen towns and cut supply lines in many parts of the country.
Food and fuel prices have soared after the crisis began, with the country's nearly 300,000 drought-stricken peasants being the most affected. Electricity and telephone services have also been cut off in many towns.
Reports from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince said the armed opposition, who demands an immediate resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, had disregarded continuous official calls to carry out new polls.
The rebels claim that conditions are not for clean polls, while the government says the opposition is only willing to apply what it terms as a Zero Option, which means the resignation of Aristide.
Haitian Ambassador to Cuba Marie Constant told a press conference Tuesday that if elections were to be held the next day in Haiti, the ruling party will get an overpowering victory, and that is the reason behind the opposition's refusal of new elections.
In the face of escalating violence, Arisitide said he is determined to use peaceful means to quell the uprising and restore peace to the country. He reiterated his decision to stay in office until his term expires on Feb. 7, 2006.
Aristide, Haiti's first elected president, is accused of rigging in the presidential elections in 2000. His popularity rate plummeted amid a worsening economy and charges of corruption and poor governance.
Calling for international aid
Haiti, with a population of around 8 million, has only 4,000 policemen under command. The government is taking steps to get international police aid to end the crisis.
The government representatives are currently holding negotiations with the officials of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations (UN).
The UN Security Council on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the unfolding political crisis in Haiti and voiced strong support for the efforts of the CARICOM and the OAS to bring an end to the current crisis in Haiti.
CARICOM has ratified its hope to find a feasible and peaceful consensus leading to democratic elections in Haiti.
The United States voiced a warning through its Ambassador to Haiti James Foley: "a government using strength to gain power won't be recognized in Haiti."
US Secretary of States Colin Powell told CNN on Tuesday his country has "no enthusiasm right now for sending in military or police forces to put down the violence that we are seeing" in Haiti. But he noted some countries may be willing to send peace-keepers to the country once an agreement is reached to restore peace.
France, Haiti's former colonizer, said it was weighing the risks of sending in peacekeepers. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Tuesday that France "must find ways to do that in liaison with the Haitian parties so that a process of dialogue can resume."
Canada announced Tuesday that it would aid Haiti with US$1.15 million in food and medicine, adding it was prepared to send 100 police officers for any international force.
However, Ambassador Constant said Tuesday her government would prefer a police force from the OAS to an "international peace force" proposed by France, and analysts have expressed concern that the use of international force might internationalize the conflict.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2004)
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