Скачать или смотреть HAITI: PORT AU PRINCE: 24 HOUR GENERAL STRIKE PARALYSES ISLAND

(16 Jan 1997) French/Nat

A 24-hour general strike paralysed the Caribbean island of Haiti on Thursday, in a protest over the government's austerity measures.

President Rene Preval is facing calls to suspend talks with international financial institutions, which the strikers believe are behind the cut-backs.

Haiti is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere despite Preval's agenda for economic reform.

The streets of Port au Prince, Haiti's capital, are booming with people selling and buying goods.

But this picture of economic activity can be deceiving.

The future of Haiti's battered economy remains bleak.

The country has yet to recover from three years of international sanctions imposed during military rule - with as much as 70 percent of the population under-employed or jobless.

Around 44 percent of GNP comes from agriculture, but a shortage of good arable land and the continued use of traditional technologies has left production at very low levels.

SOUNDBITE: (French)
"There is a problem with production. There are no products, and therefore we have to import. We import almost all the products we consume. The efforts that the government has made to the start off the economy, are improving our production capacity to have the possibility of regulating inflation"
SUPER CAPTION: Fortune Jalniol, O-P-L (Lavalas Political Organization) MP

Since the return of constitutional rule --first with Jean-Bertrand Aristide and then with President Rene Preval--Haiti has received millions of dollars in loans. These are keeping the government afloat - but business investment has been slow to return amid fears over political stability.

In return for international loans Haiti's government had to make efforts to collect unpaid taxes, cut spending, privatize state-run enterprises, and streamline the bureaucracy.

These unpopular measures have boosted inflation and unemployment and led to Thursday's strike.

The one-day general stoppage was called by a grassroots movement calling itself the Anti-International Monetary Fund Committee.

More than 160 groups joined the strike call, supporting demands that Premier Rosny Smarth resign - and calling for a halt to further talks with international banks.

Haitians are happy with democracy but bitter that it has not put food on the table.

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