#3771: Pina comments on the closing of the poles with conch horns blowing

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: kevin pina <cariborganics@hotmail.com>


At the closing of the polls it was reported that the sound of conch horns 
was heard in several neighborhoods of Port au Prince.  The sound of the 
Caribbean native conch shell has long symbolized as a call for freedom in 
Haiti. It is well known as a call to arms for the maroons, communities of 
escaped slaves in the country's early history, who allied themselves with 
the forces that defeated Napoleon's armies, establishing Haiti as the 
world's first black republic.

Tonight it is heard as the symbol of an anticipated victory for Aristide's 
Lavalas party and political rectification for Haitian majority politics put 
off track by the 1991 coup and the nullification of the results of the 
previous parliamentary elections. There are also reports that quiet, 
spontaneous celebrations have begun to break out in several neighborhoods of 
Port au Prince. At a small but growing gathering in the front yard of a 
small merchant, one celebrant stated, "We have tried one more time to make 
them understand that what we want is change. Lavalas and Aristide are our 
choice." She seemed convinced that if the elections were fair that 
Aristide's Lafamni Lavalas party will emerge victorious.

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com