17188: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Haiti Political crisis far from over (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Fri, Nov. 07, 2003

HAITI
Political crisis far from over
The OAS drew up a plan to restore stability to Haiti, but supporters and
foes of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide still can't resolve their
differences.
BY JANE REGAN
Special to The Herald




PORT-AU-PRINCE -- A year ago, the Organization of American States brokered a
road map for ending Haiti's political crisis through free and fair
elections.

Today, rocks, bottles and sometimes bullets still fly, opposition
politicians call President Jean-Bertrand Aristide a dictator while his
supporters call the opposition ``decomposed bodies.''

And many Haitians who once pinned their hopes for stability on the OAS are
now bitter. ''Hey OAS! What are you doing here? Go on back home and take
Aristide with you!'' one shouted recently at a foreigner he mistook for an
OAS official.

According to a road map charted by the OAS, the Haitian government and
representatives of opposition parties, churches and business groups, a
Provisional Electoral Council was supposed to be set up by Nov. 4, 2002, to
supervise parliamentary and municipal elections due before the end of this
year.

Ever since allegedly fraudulent parliamentary races in 2000, the opposition
has refused to participate in elections, alleging that government
manipulations and pro-Aristide gang attacks on the opposition made a fair
ballot impossible. Aristide ran for his second term virtually unopposed
later that year, and the political impasse in part led foreign donors to
withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.

A WAY OUT

The road map finally offered a way out of the impasse, the OAS thought. But
the situation has only grown worse.

When opposition marches started to draw thousands, Aristide supporters
stepped up their attacks. An anti-government paramilitary group appeared in
the mountains. Opposition parties called for regime change. Journalists,
judges and police fled the country, saying their lives were in danger.

In March, an emergency OAS delegation tried to get the process back on track
by handing both the government and the opposition a list of steps to take to
resolve the standoff, with a March 30 deadline.

The list included appointing a new police chief, disarming pro-Aristide
gangs and arresting Aristide supporters who attacked the opposition on Dec.
17, 2001, following an alleged coup attempt, and paying reparations to the
victims.

The government carried out a few of the steps but not enough, say the
opposition and civil-society groups, which are still refusing to participate
in the Provisional Electoral Council.

''The OAS refuses to pressure the government to fulfill its promises,'' said
Paul Denis, spokesman for the Democratic Convergence opposition coalition
and a former senator. ``Now they are putting pressure on us.''

The original OAS road map put the burden on the government for creating a
''climate of security'' for new elections. But the March to-do list told the
opposition that only ''progressive movement towards a climate of
confidence'' was needed for the balloting to take place.

''The opposition is afraid of elections,'' said Secretary of State for
Communications Mario Dupuy. ``Disarmament has started. The judicial
machinery is moving. Its a process. The only thing the opposition has done
is collect its reparations money.''

VIOLENCE DEPLORED

Last week, the head of the OAS Special Mission for Strengthening Democracy
in Haiti, David Lee, told a news conference that the hemispheric
organization deplored recent police violence in the northern city of
Gonaives, the arbitrary dismissals of judges and a new wave of violence by
the president's supporters against opposition demonstrations.

''The Special Mission is preoccupied by the deterioration of the political
and social climate,'' Lee said solemnly.

In an interview with The Herald afterward, he said there were ''a lot of
steps the opposition and civil society could take'' to help break the
impasse. Joining the electoral council would help improve the security
situation, he said.

The 26 member-Special Mission has cost the OAS about $6 million since it was
set up 18 months ago. Its staffers work with government officials, observe
demonstrations, help write laws and sit in at a half-dozen police
headquarters.

But they haven't brought the government or the opposition any closer to
completing their part of the March to-do lists.

CAN'T DO IT ALL

''We are not here to do it all,'' Lee said. ``We are not here to replace the
Haitians. If they dont make decisions, theres nothing we can do.''

Concerned about the continuing stalemate, OAS member states asked Secretary
General César Gaviria this summer to evaluate whether or not the Mission can
fulfill its mandates. That report is expected by the end of the year.

_________________________________________________________________
Crave some Miles Davis or Grateful Dead?  Your old favorites are always
playing on MSN Radio Plus. Trial month free!
http://join.msn.com/?page=offers/premiumradio