Port-au-Prince (Haiti): Peacekeepers cleared roadblocks and businesses reopened in Haiti's debris-littered capital, but protesters warned that chaos will return quickly if the government fails to rein in soaring food prices.

Three days of protests and looting in the capital brought a swift political response, with 17 of Haiti's 27 senators calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. Protesters said President Rene Preval should be replaced as well if he does not find a solution.

"If you can't take care of the country, you are like a leaf and you should fall," said Fortune Metilien, a 42-year- old garbage collector.

Metilien and many of the other protesters carried tree branches to symbolise their support for former President Jean- Bertrand Aristide, who has vowed to return since a 2004 revolt sent him into exile in South Africa. Many demonstrators sang a popular song that includes the refrain: "If Aristide were here, it wouldn't be like this."

And some people in the Cite Soleil slum, a bastion of Aristide support, said envoys of the Aristide-aligned Rev Gerard Jean-Juste visited Monday and told them to protest peacefully.

But while some blamed Aristide supporters, others attributed the protests to drug smugglers bent on creating chaos. The unrest began last week in Les Cayes, the base of fugitive rebel leader Guy Philippe who is wanted in the US on drug-smuggling charges. Five people died there.

Robert Fatton, a Haiti expert at the University of Virginia, doubts there is any political motive to the protests, describing them as a spontaneous reaction to food prices, which have risen 40 per cent globally since mid-2007.
Source : PTI