Brazil: Need to Keep the Peace at Home

The Brazilian general who headed the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti was buried in Rio de Janeiro with full military honors on Wednesday, five days after his apparent suicide in his hotel room in the Haitian capital.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took part in a ceremony in the capital Brasilia in honor of Lt. Gen. Urano Bacellar in the morning before soldiers in full dress uniform loaded the coffin, draped in a Brazilian flag, onto a military plane which flew it to Rio de Janeiro.

In Rio, a squad of paratroopers escorted the coffin to a grave at the Carmo Memorial Cemetery and fired a salute as it was lowered into the ground. A band played the song "Eternal Hero" at the request of his widow.

“Brazil buries U.N. commander of Haiti peacekeepers,” Reuters, 1/11/06.