The World - News from Jan. 9, 1986

Haiti closed schools and warned that troops will crush all demonstrations in an attempt to halt a wave of violence that has claimed at least five lives since Nov. 28. Thousands of students have boycotted classes to protest poor living conditions and a July 22 referendum that increased the power of Jean-Claude Duvalier, self-appointed president for life. In protests this week, hundreds of people blocked highways in Gonaives and in Petit Goave on Haiti’s southern peninsula, and others tried to set fire to tax and customs offices.