6266: Voting station & witness accounts (re:#6260) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "A. [iso-8859-1] Médard" <amedard@gte.net>

Father Mike,

With all due respect, I think it important to note that what you apparently
witnessed at the voting station there in Morne Calvaire may not necessarily be
representative of what was happening in other parts of Petionville or the rest
of the country.

Having lived in Haiti for 16 years (through all the coups), myself, and having
at visited the country (for several weeks at least once/year) for 6 years prior
to that, I conclude that Haiti is a country full of contrasts.  I was given a
first hand report from two unrelated reliable sources (one was a native
Creole-speaking Haitian; the other was a foreigner who is married to a Haitian
and who has lived and worked in Haiti for >20 years) in Haiti who - after
having driven around, and having spoken with a number of "the people" and some
who ran voting stations - reported that those  with whom they spoke  (members
of the masses and those who ran voting stations) all reported very low
turnout.  In fact,  estimates were in the single digits.  The members of the
masses with whom they spoke all expressed dismay in Aristide.

Because I have known you pretty well for ~12+ years, I do believe that you
would only give an accurate report of what you witnessed.  But I have also
known my other sources for >20 years, and I know that they would also give
accurate reports.  So the problem for me is how to balance these reports and
translate them into a reliable broad perspective.