| Doubts and scepticism abound
Canada, Haiti and the struggle for justice: An interview with Patrick Elie - Seven Oaks, 27 February, 2006 [Begin recording] [Wimhurst] The first thing I can say is that the MINUSTAH has secured all the ballots and materials entrusted in its care by the Provisional Electoral Council [CEP]. We took all the electoral materials handed to us by the CEP and put them in a safe place. If there are other materials outside of those we have received, then they were not entrusted to our care. We are keeping all the materials the CEP gave us in a safe place. [Correspondent Rotchild Francois, Jr] But what is MINUSTAH's opinion on all of the ballots that were discovered in the dump in Truitier? Were they plundered? [Wimhurst] There are several hypotheses. One of them is that these materials could have come from one or more polling places that were vandalized on election day, when the people stole the ballots and all the materials. This is one possibility. But it is also possible that there were other materials that the CEP did not give us. They could have come from some other sources. [Francois] The CEP thinks it could be a trick. What does MINUSTAH think it could be in this case? [Wimhurst] Well, I just do not know. This is obviously something very suspicious. But we know that there were people who stole polling materials on election day in several polling places in the country. For instance, we know that in Bombardopolis, four candidates looted the polling center and took the ballots. This is just one example, but there are other instances. We do not know why they did it. One thing is certain: All the materials entrusted in our care by the CEP are well looked after in a secure place. [Francois] Does this mean there was no chance that someone took these ballots and went and dumped them in Truitier? [Wimhurst] Absolutely not. But we also know that, on several occasions, they [polling station officials] gave us electoral materials, and we transported them to Port-au-Prince. But soon after that, the polling station workers would call us saying: Ah, we still have some more. We forgot to give them to you. Here they are. So, some people often showed that they forgot to complete the process. [Francois] But the pro-Preval demonstrators are already holding MINUSTAH responsible for the incident. [Wimhurst] Yes, but they are accusing us without any proof. They are doing so out of ignorance. In a situation like this, people need to be prudent and calm. The CEP will need to investigate to find the source of these ballots that were dumped in Truitier. [Francois] Do you think MINUSTAH would be in favor of Rene Preval being proclaimed president of the Republic, or would they rather see the process follow its course? By this, I mean if MINUSTAH would be in favor of a run-off? [Wimhurst] The electoral process is the responsibility of the CEP. It is the responsibility of the Haitian authorities. [end recording]
Peasants demand right to participate in national decisions (AlterPresse) - 5 December 2005By Djems Olivier Cap-Haïtien, 5 December 2005 [AlterPresse] - On 2 December 2005, delegates from peasant organisations from different parts of the country spoke out in favour of a meaningful participation in decisions about the country's future. "Haitian peasants don't feel like citizens because they are always left out of the big decisions that concern the country," said Lamersot Beaubrun, a representative of a peasant organisation during the course of a debate with politicians at the Versailles Complex in Cap-Haïtien, the country's second city. The peasant delegates noted that a genuine integration into the heart of Haitian society would depend on addressing the system of exclusion, and the country's state of dependence with regard to food security. "We are peasants but we don't feel like citizens. A citizen is someone who has access to basic social services like electricity, hospitals, education, and means of communication, and I don't", said the delegate, who called on the country's future leaders to take the demands of the rural sector into account. The meeting was held at the initiative of the Coffee Campaign Coordination, supported by, amongst others, the Haitian Platform to Advocate for Alternative Development (PAPDA), Oxfam GB, ActionAid and the World Lutheran Foundation (FLM). Not one of the ten presidential candidates invited to the meeting, responded. However, four parties and political platforms sent representatives: the social democratic FUSION, the OPL, the LESPWA platform, and the Charles Henri Baker/KONBAH alliance, Respè. The focus of the debates was coffee production but the peasants took the opportunity to make their opinions known. In addition to the question of citizenship, they criticised the performance of the international community with regard to security since the fall of President Aristide. They also expressed their discontent with the Interim Cooperation Framework (CCI). (translated from French for the Haiti Support Group by Charles Arthur)
_______________________ "We invited 31 political parties and presidential candidates but the majority of them were conspicuous by their absence. This very clearly shows that they are not going to take into account the peasants' concerns," remarked Ernia Massillon of the Regional Platform of Organizations from the Lower North-West (POREBANO). "Will this sector of Haitian society continue to be exploited by the politicians who want to form the next government?", wondered the peasant activist. Out of the 30 or so candidates and parties called to the meeting, only ten turned up, of which three were presidential candidates. They were Reynold Georges of ALAH, Himmler Rébu of the GREH, and Judie C. Roy of the REPAREN. This forum, considered by some as a failure for the so-called 'political class', had the objective of presenting the concerns and demands of North-Western peasants in relation to food security and sovereignty. "Today, peasants want to involve themselves in the struggle to press home their demands. They have the right to participate in the big decisions concerning the whole country," said the agronomist, Allen Henry, the moderator of the meeting. "We believe that it is important to make the country's future decision-makers aware of the problematic of development in the North-West," added Hudson Michel, who suggested that "opportunists are enriching themselves on the back of the population's poverty". Thanks to the financial support of the humanitarian organization, ActionAid, the PPSANO had been able to carry out a field study in the region, stated the agronomist Huguenel Alézi. The coordinator of the ActionAid Haiti program vowed to ensure the follow-up to these activities, the objective of which is to guarantee the country's food security. According to the study, the majority of families in the region known as the Far West live in sub-human conditions. Basic social services are not provided, and the State is more or less nonexistent, yet the Lower North-West possesses the potential and the means to permit it to initiate a genuine development that could satisfy the needs of its communities. A better exploitation of the so-called Three Rivers would enable a strong agricultural productivity in the region, according to the study. The statistics show that the water resources that could be tapped in the region are estimated at 17,868,750 cubic metres per 43 metres of height, stated the Platform's document. The leaders of the PPSANO believe that, to develop the North-West, it is necessary to irrigate more than 15,000 hectares of land for agriculture, to resolve the problem of (lack of) electricity by using wind energy, and to provide peasants with training. "All sustainable policies, aiming for sustainable development in this region, must have food security as their principal objective and must revolve around the axis of agriculture and livestock, fishing, and tourism," said the organizers of the 30 November meeting. They also foresee the construction of basic infrastructure at Môle Saint Nicolas. "The studies show that Môle Saint Nicolas is a zone exposed to the wind that the authorities could use for wind energy to electrify the region", revealed Hudson Michel, who did not state his source. The Lower North-West is composed of four communes: Môle Saint Nicolas, Jean Rabel, Bombardopolis and Baie-de-Haine. The members of the PPSANO demanded concrete actions to improve the region, where the coastal waters are exploited, they say, by Cuban, Dominican and Bahamian fishermen. A first meeting with candidates and political parties has already taken place in the departmental capital, Port-de-Paix. Out of 64 people invited, only 10 turned up. In the Artibonite Valley, activities of the same sort have been organized by the Mouvement Revendicatif des Paysans de l’Artibonite (MOREPLA), supported by Oxfam Intermon. (translated from French for the Haiti Support Group by Charles Arthur)
_______________________ On 3 November, during the 3rd Summit of the People at Mar del Plata (Argentina), the director of the Karl Lévêque Cultural Institute (ICKL), Marc Arthur Fils-Aimé, denounced the situation of Haiti on the eve of elections under foreign "military occupation". "What it is necessary for Haiti is "true independence" with a government that exercises power according to the people's demands, "without visible or invisible limitations imposed by the United States", Fils-Aimé asserted. He pointed a finger at the presumed involvement of the United States in the preparation of the next elections. Sylvain Jean, a leader of the peasant organisation, Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan, has also expressed his reservations about the holding of elections in Haiti in the current context. In an exclusive interview with AlterPresse, Jean announced the position of this national movement representing peasants in eight of the 10 geographical departments of the country. "The country's current situation is not favourable to the holding of elections", declared the organisation's leader, referring to the worsening socio-economic situation and the presence of United Nations troops in Haiti. "In seeking a consensus on achieving the country's revival, we must first of all consider the disguised occupation of our country ", stated Jean. "At the level of Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan, we are neither near to nor far from being involved in electoral activities", stressed the militant, who is a member of the organisation's national coordination. Sylvain Jean denied the rumour of a possible alliance between Tèt Kole and the Espoir (Espwa) platform, which supports the candidature of ex-president René Préval. "It is completely impossible for Tèt Kole to be involved in a political alliance" and the rules of the organisation do not allow it, he said. The peasant leader recognised however that members of Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan scattered over eight departments of the country are likely to courted by political groups because of the mobilising force that the peasant sector represents. Jean denounced certain political alliances* which, according to him, go against the principal demands of the underprivileged sectors of the country, especially the peasant sector. "These alliances against nature involving certain fringes of the peasant sector will be prejudicial to the country's future, and will reinforce the exclusion of the most disadvantaged members of society," he warned. [*Haiti Support Group's note: Sylvain Jean may be referring to the presidential candidatures of Charles Henri Baker and Marc Bazin: Baker, an assembly plant owner and Group of 184 leader, is backed by the party of MPP leader, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste; Bazin, a former World Bank employee and coup regime prime minister in 1992, is allied with the Lavalas Family party.] (translated from French for the Haiti Support Group by Charles Arthur)
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