Meanwhile, in the capital of Port-au-Prince, at least four students were hurt when Aristide partisans began throwing rocks and splashing them with the poison-ivy cocktail meant to make people itch. The students called for Aristide's resignation and the release of two business leaders detained two weeks ago at an opposition rally. "We say down with Aristide's repressive regime and demand the unconditional release of political prisoners," said Hervé Saintilus, leader of the Federation of Haitian University Students, who said he was struck on the wrist by a police officer wielding a club. (AP)

26 November - Nine members of the Group of 184, a coalition of professional, religious and social groups, have occupied a conference room at an Organisation of American States office for a second day on Wednesday to protest the detention of two colleagues. The protesters took over the room on Tuesday to urge the OAS to pressure President Aristide's government for the release of Charles Baker and David Apaid. Both were detained 12 days ago on charges of illegal weapons possession.

"They intend to stay inside until we reach our goals," said novelist Yannick Lahens, a member of the Group of 184. An OAS spokesman in Washington said the group came for a meeting on Tuesday and "they decided not to leave. They're trying to sort the situation out," he said. Opposition politicians and human rights activists have criticised the detention of the two men as a political decision designed to punish government opponents. Baker is vice chairman of Haiti's Manufacturers Association. Earlier this week, Haitian government spokesman Mario Dupuy told reporters the Apaid-Baker case was in the hands of the judiciary. (Reuters)

24 November - Senator Dany Toussaint - an influential Lavalas Family MP, and a former member of the military and head of the interim police force following President Aristide's return from exile - gave a serious warning to President Aristide to whom he was very close. "Beware, for the road you are taking is not a good one. Take the democratic route," advised the senator in an interview with Radio Vision 2000. Senator Toussaint denounced in Creole "the solitary power of a man who controls everything and whose current path leads to dictatorship."

On Friday, for his part, the head of the reformist wing of the Family Lavalas party, Senator Pierre Sonson Prince, issued a warning to that political party asking that it reform itself lest it loses power. This warning is elaborated in a book entitled, "Haiti: the state of shock" that the Senator presented to the press and the public. "Lavalas without a change in its orientation, without the rejection of certain of its practices that belong to a museum, will no longer enjoy the support of the population and that will be the end of the experiment," warned the Senator. In his book, the Senator condemns the illicit enrichment, corruption, insecurity, violence and authoritarianism, while stating his opposition to the premature departure of President Aristide as a solution to the crisis. (AFP)

23 November - Between 19 and 22 November, a total of 42.3 tons out of 113 tons were looted at final distribution points (FDPs) as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Haitian Red Cross carried out food distributions to 2,500 flood victims in Grande Saline and Saint-Marc. In Chevreau Commune in Grande Saline, a large crowd supported by an armed group looted the FDP and attacked a truck loaded with WFP food on 19 November, resulting in a loss of 17.9 tons. In Rossignole Commune in Grande Saline, 12.31 tons of food was looted from the FDP on 20 November. On 22 November, 12.09 tons of food was looted from Chatelain Commune in St Marc. WFP staff in Chevreau Commune informed local police authorities after the first incident, but the looting continued the following days despite police presence, and WFP was forced to suspend the distribution. There were no injuries to WFP staff or property. The Government has been informed, and an investigation is underway. (WFP)

22 November - Student leaders, Hervé Saintilus and Roland Laguerre, who were arrested in Petit-Goâve on Thursday, have been released from police custody.. They called on Haitian youth to continue to mobilise until President Aristide gives up power. (Signal FM)

21 November - At least two people died in the Port-au-Prince slum of Cité Soleil Thursday night when police raided the neighborhood, community leader Bernard Casseus told reporters. He said police were looking for Robenson Bernard, leader of an opposition group. Several hundred people demonstrated in Cité Soleil on Friday, blaming the government for the 31 October killing of community leader, Roodson "Colobri" Lemaire.

In the western town of Petit-Goâve, thousands of students demonstrated, demanding President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s resignation and the release of student leaders Hervé Saintilus and Roland Laguerre, who were arrested there on Thursday and allegedly mistreated by police. (EFE)

20 November - The US Coast Guard repatriated 204 migrants to Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, after taking them from an overloaded 60-foot sailing boat. One of the migrants was Cuban, the rest were Haitian, the Coast Guard said. One migrant was treated for dehydration, the rest were not injured. The South Carolina-based Coast Guard Cutter Gallatin stopped the ship on Saturday about 40 miles northwest of Great Inagua, Bahamas. The sailing vessel was destroyed as a hazard to navigation. (AP)

19 November - Several dozen members of pro-Lavalas popular organisations have demonstrated in front of the National Palace in Port-au-Prince to demand the arrest of Robenson Thomas, a powerful community leader in Cité Boston. Thomas is accused of involvment in a number of the acts of violence which have recently plagued Cité Soleil. The demonstrators took the opportunity to renew their support for President Aristide, and to call on the police force to do its work. (Signal FM)

18 November - On the occasion of the bicentenary of the battle of Vertières, the "Popular Committee 2004", composed of several organisations and institutions from the alternative sector, organised a conference in Port-au-Prince to debate the topic: "domination and resistance in the popular struggle". The starting point for the discussion was the participation of the masses in the many battles which led to the assault at Vertières.

Contrary to the government's initiatives "to celebrate and honour" the Bicentenary in the shape of Toussaint, Dessalines, etc, "we think that it is necessary to find the true meaning of our independence", declared Guy Numa, one of the persons in charge of the committee, on Radio Kiskeya. According to Numa, it is important to take advantage of the Bicentenary "to re-start the popular struggle in order to arrive at a real independence, and to finish with domination and exploitation". Today, Numa added, in addition to exploitation and domination, impunity reigns, and the freedoms of expression and of demonstration are ridiculed. (AlterPresse)

18 November - Two hundred years after the revolutionary army's victory over the French troops at Vertières (on the outskirts of Cap-Haïtien), Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has launched an appeal for a "peaceful war against poverty". The strategy, force, weapons and allies in this "war" were not mentioned. In front of a crowd of several thousand people, Aristide called Vertières "a victory against exclusion and racism, a victory for the black race," but he said that for 200 years the country has been the victim of "economic violence." Aristide said it is not the fault of Haitians that unemployment is so high - estimated at 70 percent - or that other countries have held back economic aid. (AlterPresse and Reuters)

17 November - Many private businesses in Port-au-Prince closed their doors on Monday in respect of the employers' strike, called to protest against the incidents during the demonstration on Friday. Shops and banks did not open, nor did private schools, although the State-owned banks, the public adminstration and public transport, as well as street markets, functioned as normal. In Cap-Haïtien only the private banks were closed. (AFP)

15 November - André Apaid, the coordinator of the Group of 184, has said that the government will not allow fair elections to take place in Haiti. Speaking after the premature ending of the Group of 184 rally in central Port-au-Prince on Friday, Apaid said that the police, while supposedly dispersing government supporters, sprayed the demonstrators with tear gas. He condemned the police for doing nothing to stop counter-demonstrators throwing stones at the Group of 184 supporters, while arresting those who were engaged to protect the Group of 184 leaders. (Haiti Press Network)

15 November - During a press conference today, the Group of 184 issued a call for a general strike across the country on 17 November. The call followed the violent dispersal of supporters of the Group of 184 by Aristide supporters at the Champ de Mars rally on Friday. (AlterPresse)

14 November - Riot police fired tear gas at thousands of rock-throwing protesters on Friday as a demonstration against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overpowered by throngs of supporters of the Haitian leader. Demonstrators scattered as tear gas canisters fell, and shots rang out in the crowd. There were reports of at least two people injured and 30 arrests.

Civic groups planned the demonstration to urge social change. But more than 8,000 Aristide partisans corralled the protesters into a small section of gritty Port-au-Prince. Police separated the groups and fired tear gas when some protesters lobbed rocks at each other.

Police, who have been criticised in the past for preventing anti-government protests, were vigilant on Friday in guarding both camps of protesters. Still, many civic leaders were kept from the demonstration during intensive vehicle searches. Despite losing pockets of support, Aristide has maintained popularity in Port-au-Prince, where the former priest rose to power. Many of his supporters criticise the opposition and the civic groups for being from Haiti's "light-skinned" and privileged upper class. (AP)

13 November - Hundreds of government opponents protested in the capital, calling for the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide because of deepening poverty and insecurity. The crowd of university students and opposition activists marched to the National Palace, where some 50 Aristide supporters confronted them. Police stood between the two groups, ordering them to separate. Some students later threw rocks at government supporters before police broke up the demonstration, firing rifle shots into the air. (AP)

12 November - Government opponents have set fire to a pro-government radio station, Radio Pyramide, in the west coast town of St. Marc. No one was injured, but the fire gutted the station. The attack came hours after the state Telecommunications Council closed Radio Tete-a-Tete, a station in the town that had given voice to the opposition. The closure was because the station didn't have proper legal authorisation to broadcast, not for political reasons, government official Daniel Jean-Charles said. (AP)

11 November - Demonstrations are continuing each day in Raboteau in Gonaïves and in Cité Soleil in the capital - two areas that have traditionally been regarded as undisputed pro-Aristide strongholds. Another person was wounded by gunfire in Gonaïves today when police violently broke up an anti-government demonstration in Raboteau. The calm that had descended on Gonaïves for several days gave way to a 'hot' weekend. On 8 November, three houses belonging to William Joseph and his relatives, who have been accused of compicity in the murder of Amiot Métayer, were set on fire by demonstrators. On 10 November, a truck belonging to Guy Dejean, who is accused of collaborating with the government, was burnt.

Meanwhile, in Cité Soleil, hundreds of people took part in a new demonstration against the government on 10 November. Supporters of Roodson Lemaire, the head of a pro-government group who was killed on 31 October, took to the streets chanting "Down with Aristide". Another gang leader, Robenson Thomas, told the press that "we are not interested in negotiating", and demanded changes of personnel at the Mayor's office and the local police station. On 8 November the actions of pro-Aristide groups in Cité Soleil left one person dead. (AlterPresse).

5 November - The human rights situation in Haiti has "again deteriorated" with police facing a "serious identity crisis", according to a UN appointed expert on human rights in the country. Discouragement within the ranks of Haiti's national police force is "very serious", Louis Joinet told reporters at the end of a 12-day mission to Haiti. Top police officials have left their jobs "scandalised and disappointed", said Joinet who cited the case of police officers "who believe in their job but watch helplessly on as people are given unbelievable promotions outside of all legal criteria". (AFP)

3 November - The situation is tense in Cité Soleil in the wake of the fatal shooting on Friday evening of the powerful gang leader Wilson Lemaire, known as " Colobri". The main entrance to the Cité was blocked by barricade made of large rocks and automobile chassis that were erected by supporters of Colobri, led by another gang leader, Thomas Robinson, known as Labanyè, who has often been accused by his chief rival, Dread Wilmer, of working for the political opposition.

The Coordinator of the September 30 Foundation, Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, interpreted the murder of Colobri as a continuation of the situation that has prevailed for more than a month in Gonaïves. According to Pierre Antoine, this act was designed to cause the people of Cité Soleil to rise up against the current constitutionally-elected authorities. Pierre Antoine attributed responsibility for the crime to sectors that are opposed to the planned elections, and the celebration of the bicentennial of national independence. He asked the residents of Cité Soleil to remain calm, and the police and judiciary to act against all who are creating terror in the country. Several sectors reputed to be close to the opposition had announced last Thursday that things were going to heat up in Cité Soleil. (AHP)

3 November - The radio station, Caraïbes FM, is back on the air, a week after it was shot-up by armed men in an official State vehicle. The 5.30am news programme focused on the violence in Cité Soleil which has reached new intensity following the assassination of a pro-Lavalas leader, Rodson Lemaire, alias "Colobri", during the night of 31 October. (Radio Metropole)

1 November - The leader of the Youth Front To Save Haiti (Front des Jeunes pour Sauver Haiti - Frojesha), a popular organisation close to the opposition in Port-au-Prince suburb of Carrefour, says he is going to launch a counter-attack next week aimed at thwarting the brutality of the Lavalas popular organisations. David Cocy says enough is enough, because peaceful demonstrations and marches cannot do anything against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Frojesha thinks that only civil war can overthrow the president to be overthrown.

Cocy said, "We have already mobilised all our grassroots and everything we have. We are telling Aristide that civil war has been declared. We say that on 1st January 2004, whether it be through our blood, whether it costs us our lives, Aristide must go. Therefore, we call on all former servicemen, all former soldiers. If you have Galils (rifles), keep your Galils. If you have heavy weapons, start loading your cartridges so we can revolt against Aristide.

The Frojesha leader challenged the heads of popular organisations close to the current government, such as Réné Civil and Paul Raymond, who launched Operation Stranglehold and Shield to stop anti-government demonstrations, to come to Carrefour. (Signal FM)