High fuel prices, which have made transportation more expensive, rising demand in Asia, the use of farmland and crops for biofuels, a long drought in Australia and speculation on futures markets have combined to push up food prices worldwide. There have been outbreaks of unrest in several poor countries.
Shortly after midnight, three U.N. peacekeepers from Sri Lanka were wounded by gunfire while on patrol in Port-au-Prince, said Sophie Boutaud-de-la-Combe, a U.N. spokeswoman in Haiti. The peacekeepers did not return fire because they could not identify a target, she said, and their wounds were not serious.
In addition, Jordanian peacekeepers were sent to reinforce a U.N. base in Carrefour, near the capital, in the morning after a hostile crowd threatened it, she said. The Jordanians helped to evacuate employees from the base and fired rubber bullets in the air to deter the crowd.
Otherwise, Preval's appeal for an end to the mayhem was followed by an uneasy calm in the rock- and glass-strewn streets of Port-au-Prince, a sprawling and chaotic city of uncertain millions.
Colourful pick-up truck "tap-tap" taxis circulated again.
Street vendors, who had disappeared while demonstrators hurled rocks at U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police, returned to curbsides to sell fried plantains and pork, and shopkeepers opened stalls in the main market to sell oranges and papayas.
U.N. peacekeepers rolled up barbed wire they had placed around the opulent National Palace when they had to fend off thousands of protesters trying to storm Preval's office.
The U.N. troops also took off their blue helmets as they sat casually in armoured personnel carriers lining major roads and intersections. Security remained heavy.
Some demonstrators warned protests could break out again.
"I think that Alexis should resign. We Haitians cannot feed our children. We are living like animals and he is not solving the problems," said shoemaker Jonas Glezil, 30.
"We don't ask Preval to resign but are waiting to see what he is going to do. If he doesn't act there could be trouble in the future."
