PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A bloody revolt against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide spread to a dozen towns and cities Monday as his political opponents warned that the violence could spiral out of control unless Aristide stepped down.
The United Nations, United States and France -- the Caribbean island's former colonial ruler -- expressed concern about the escalation of violence that has killed about four dozen Haitians in the last week.
The United States called on Aristide's supporters and opponents to halt the deadly clashes. U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S. told the Haitian government to respect human rights and urged it to negotiate a solution through two regional groups, the Caribbean Community, known as Caricom, and the Organization of American States.
Aristide's government responded to the crisis by accusing rivals of trying to stage a coup d'etat.
The government scored a small victory Monday morning after sending police reinforcements to the port of St. Marc, where armed rebels had seized control a day earlier. Police recovered their burned-out headquarters in the city of 100,000 when a pro-government gang broke through roadblocks and fired on rebels until they fled.
Opponents blamed the government for the violence, saying Haitians have been driven to desperation by government repression and a decade of misrule by Aristide and his Lavalas Party. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, with half its 8.5 million people malnourished and illiterate.
For weeks, opposition groups have staged demonstrations against Aristide, a former priest who was ousted in a coup but restored to power in 1994 by a U.S. military intervention. The revolt erupted Thursday when a formerly pro-Aristide group overran the police station in the coastal city of Gonaives.
Inspired by the gang's success, Aristide opponents in St. Marc seized their city's police station. More than a dozen officers were killed in the clashes.
The unrest spread Monday, with disgruntled Haitians taking encouragement from the Gonaives and St. Marc incidents to stage their own assaults on police stations -- seen here as symbols of Aristide's power. In several cities, looting of schools and food warehouses followed attacks on the police. People fled their homes, carrying their few belongings.
