Chilean Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker denounced a "fearful hate campaign" against the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, organized by groups which are against the country's elections, local media said on Tuesday.
Chile's ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdes has become the target of this campaign because he is the direct representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and head of the UN mission to the Caribbean nation, Walker said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos reiterated his full support to Chilean officials carrying out UN peacekeeping roles in Haiti.
The foreign minister said that maybe the campaign had even led to the death of the Brazilian general who had commanded the UN's peacekeeping troops.
"The fearful radio hate campaign launched by a group against the UN, against Juan Gabriel Valdes... could explain the suicide" of Brazilian general Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, Walker said.
The general was found dead in his hotel room in Port-au-Prince last Saturday, and first reports said he had committed suicide. The Brazilian government has urged an investigation into the incident.
Peacekeepers in Haiti are made up of 7,000 soldiers and 1,500 police from a number of nations. Chile has one battalion of 600 people safeguarding the city of Cap Haitian.
Source: Xinhua