Hti: Disarmament of Haiti slow

Ten weeks after the overthrow of President Jean Bertrand Aristide too many people continue to walk around Haiti with guns, and the country's political and economic life are in the crosshairs.

Former Palm Beach County resident Gerard Latortue, the interim prime minister of Haiti, has said all along that reducing the firepower on the streets is the country's most urgent problem. Speaking Saturday in Miami, he admitted little progress has been made in collecting weapons since he flew from exile in Boca Raton March 10 and was sworn in March 19.

In fact, Latortue said that U.S. troops and other international peacekeepers posted in the country since Aristide's fall have made little effort to disarm the anti-Aristide rebels and pro-Aristide street gangs who despise each other.

"They have had very limited success," said Latortue, 69, toning down his frustration as he referred to some 3,500 foreign troops -- more than half from the United States -- now in Haiti.