PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Business ground to a halt Monday in a general strike called to protest a wave of kidnappings that has terrified people and cast a shadow over already troubled efforts to restore democracy in Haiti. The Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry called the strike to pressure U.N. peacekeepers to move against gangs - allegedly loyal to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide - who have carried out many of the kidnappings.The one-day strike left people sitting idly on street corners or waiting hopelessly for a bus, an economic blow in a country where most people are unemployed. Gas stations, supermarkets and banks all closed.
Central Port-au-Prince was practically a ghost town, with a few children kicking a ball and men playing dominos in the afternoon on a street near the U.S. Embassy and the mayor's office that is normally choked with traffic at that hour. On the trash-strewn streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, Rodrig Paul was angry after he closed his stall where he sells batteries. "This is a rich person's strike," he said.
But others noted the kidnappings have targeted people from all walks of life. "The violence has threatened everyone, poor or rich, Haitian or non-Haitian," the pricey Hotel Villa Creole said in a letter to guests after it cut back on services for the day.