Haiti Leader Warns of Refugee Wave if U.N. Mission Fails
If the U.N. mission fails to restore democracy in this Caribbean country, hordes of Haitians will flee toward the United States, Prime Minister Robert Malval warned Sunday.
He spoke after a night of heavy gunfire in the capital, a stark reminder of the volatile political passions that many fear will force the U.N. peacekeepers into fighting, as has happened in Somalia.
A U.S. warship carrying hundreds of GIs to take part in the U.N. mission is to arrive today. A small contingent of U.S. and Canadian peacekeepers arrived last week.
The U.N. troops are part of a U.N.-brokered plan to restore democracy to the country more than two years after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first freely elected leader, was deposed in a military coup.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
