Americas Features
Commander's violent death rocks U.N. mission in Haiti
By Franz Smets
Jan 8, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Port-au-Prince, Haiti - The violent death of the peacekeeping chief in Haiti has shaken the U.N. mission to curb civil strife and promote democracy in the poor Caribbean nation.

Brazilian General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, the tough commander of 9,000 U.N. troops, was found dead with a bullet wound to the head Saturday at his hotel in the capital Port-au-Prince. Brazil's ambassador to Haiti said he may have killed himself.

Da Matta Bacellar's death at age 57 comes at a critical time in U.N. efforts to stabilize Haiti, where elections were repeatedly put off last year because of violent unrest and organizational problems.

On Friday, an impatient U.N. Security Council demanded that Haiti's transitional government finally hold presidential and legislative elections by February 7.

Haiti has been led by an interim government since President Jean- Bertrand Aristide was ousted and fled Haiti in February 2004, finding exile in South Africa.

But the U.N. forces, who will provide security for the poll, are struggling to maintain order.

When Da Matta Bacellar took over in August, he swiftly launched a crackdown against crime gangs and kidnappings. U.N. forces shot and killed several gang leaders and freed a number of hostages.

'Security for the election exists all across the country,' the declared in mid-November. But he acknowledged that the capital's gang-wracked Cite-Soleil neighbourhood had eluded U.N. control.

Gun battles erupted in Cite-Soleil a few days later, leaving local residents, a U.N. soldier from Jordan and a U.N. policeman from Canada dead.

Last month, kidnappings surged to 90 from a monthly average of about 20. Presidential elections to be held Sunday under U.N. auspices were postponed and critics accused U.N. forces of being partly responsible for the chaos by failing to stamp out the gangs.

The chief U.N. civilian envoy to Haiti, Juan Gabriel Valdes, charged that some of the 35 presidential candidates finance their campaigns with ransom money from kidnappings.

Saturday morning, Da Matta Bacellar was found on a chair on his hotel balcony with a book in one hand, and a revolver also was found, said a U.N. source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A U.N. spokesman said Secretary-General Kofi Annan was 'shocked and saddened' and that a full investigation was under way.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack thanked da Matta Bacellar for his service, calling him 'a great friend and dedicated public servant'.

Chilean general Eduardo Aldunate Herman was named as his replacement.