Haiti Election Results Spur Violence

(CBS/AP)  Supporters of Haitian presidential candidate Rene Preval erected smoldering roadblocks across the capital and occupied a luxury hotel Monday. At least one protester was killed, but U.N. peacekeepers denied witness accounts that they had shot him.

As Port-au-Prince descended into chaos, Preval returned to the capital for the first time since Tuesday's election. He was the clear winner with about 90 percent of the votes counted, but supporters claimed electoral officials were tampering with results to prevent him from getting the majority he needs to avoid a runoff.

CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk reports Preval may fall short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a second round of voting.

"The uncertainty about the election results sparked a violent reaction that was close to the surface throughout the campaign," Falk said. "With over thirty candidates in the race and mules carrying ballots, the understandable delay in the vote count has provoked accusations of fraud."

Barricades made of old tires were ablaze across the capital, sending plumes of acrid black smoke into the sky. Protesters let only journalists and Red Cross vehicles pass.

"If they don't give us the final results, we're going to burn this country down!" a protester screamed.

The election will replace an interim government installed after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a bloody rebellion two years ago. A popularly elected government with a clear mandate from the voters is seen as crucial to avoiding a political and economic meltdown in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Gangs have gone on kidnapping sprees, and factories have closed for lack of security.

Preval arrived aboard a U.N. helicopter from his rural home in north Haiti. Leaders of the interim government, the top U.N. representative in Haiti and ambassadors from the United States, France, Canada and Brazil planned to urge Preval to appeal for calm, said Michel Brunache, chief of staff of interim President Boniface Alexandre.

Landing at a U.N. base, Preval was asked whether he had a message for his supporters. "Not now," he said, and kept walking.

In the middle-class Tabarre neighborhood, Associated Press journalists saw the body of a man on a street, blood soaking Preval's image emblazoned on his T-shirt. Dozens of witnesses said Jordanian U.N. peacekeepers in a jeep opened fire, killing two people and wounding four. The body of the second reported victim was not seen.

"We were peacefully protesting when the U.N. started shooting. There were a lot of shots. Everybody ran," said Walrick Michel, 22.

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