PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters rampaged through Haiti’s capital and other cities yesterday, hurling stones and wrecking property in a wave of unrest against election results they say were rigged by the ruling government coalition.
At least two people were killed in the flaring violence, which appeared to dash international hopes that the U.N.-backed elections held on Nov. 28 could create a stable new leadership for Haiti, an impoverished nation struggling to recover from a devastating January earthquake.
Port-au-Prince descended into chaos as supporters of popular musician and presidential candidate Michel Martelly, who failed to qualify for an election run-off in results announced by electoral authorities, set up burning barricades of timber, boulders and flaming tires across the city.
Protests in which some government buildings were torched were also reported in other cities in the volatile Caribbean country.
A local mayor in the south coast city of Les Cayes, Jean Mario Altenor, said two people were killed by U.N. peacekeepers when protesters tried to burn a local elections bureau. A U.N. police spokesman said he had heard of two reported deaths but had no information about how these had occurred.
Haitian media also reported another person killed in protests in Cap-Haitien in the north.
