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26349: Fwd: [Primature] Transcript of the Press Conference between Prime Minister Latortue and Dr. Rice (fwd)
From: Bureau du Premier Ministre de la Republique d'Haiti
Secretary of State with Haitian Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue
Secretary Condoleezza
Rice
Port-au-Prince,
Haiti
September 27,
2005
PRIME MINISTER LATORTUE: (Via interpreter) Madame Secretary, ladies and
gentlemen, in the name of the Haitian people and of the government of the
Republic, I wish to express how happy we are to greet on the land of Haiti
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, whom we admire and love. We are very happy that she is
here in Port-au-Prince so that she can see directly the problems of the
country.
Both the President of the Republic and I have had very direct and frank
discussions with Dr. Rice on a number of specific questions, particularly
elections, economic and social development, security as well as justice. These
exchanges have been fruitful. We spoke honestly and frankly, and I hope that
during this press conference the Secretary will make clear -- will express her
positions and I will also answer questions if
necessary.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. I did indeed have
very productive talks with the Prime Minister, with the President and also
with the members of the Provisional Electoral Council, who are the Haitian
citizens who are arranging the elections
here.
I am here because I want to express on behalf of the American people and on
behalf of President Bush our backing and our support for the Haitian people
at this very important time. I am very pleased to be accompanied on this trip
by five members of the United States Congress: Senator DeWine, Congressman
Watt and Congressman Meek, also Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen and Congressman
Shadegg. Thank you very much for coming also to express the desire of the
American people that this should be a positive experience for the people of
Haiti.
The people of Haiti, of course, have a long road ahead of them to prosperity
and democracy, but the elections that they are about to hold can be a very
important, vital and crucial step along that road. In my conversations today,
I noted that all Haitians must accelerate preparations for the elections. I
underscored also that these elections must be open and inclusive and
fair.
The international community is also supportive of the people of Haiti and I
want to thank the members of the international community, in particular
MINUSTAH of the UN under Brazilian leadership, which is here to try and
provide security for Haiti and security as the elections are prepared and
progress. And to the Prime Minister, to the Provisional Electoral Council, to
the President and to all members of the Haitian Government, I want to say
that we know this is a time when Haiti can have a new start and we look
forward to working with you.
And Mr. Prime Minister, if I may, I would like to just say a word to the
Haitian people. I know that many of you have registered to vote. I hope that
when the day comes that you will exercise that vote. To those of you who have
not registered, please go and register and reclaim your right to choose a
democratic leader for
Haiti.
Mr. Prime Minister, throughout history, people have fought for the right to
vote. Some have indeed died for the right to vote. There is no more powerful
weapon in the hands of a citizen than the vote. And so to the people of
Haiti, I urge you to use that powerful weapon, the vote, in the days
ahead.
Thank
you.
MR. MCCORMACK: The Prime Minister and Secretary Rice will now take a few
questions from the press.
QUESTION: I would like first of all to give my salutations to the Prime
Minister and to Madame Secretary of State. Welcome to
Haiti.
My question is I know that support has been expressed by the Bush
Administration for the transitional government and for the elections, but I
would like to know if there is a clear message sent by the Bush Administration
to the Haitian Government in the electoral
period?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, thank you. In fact, the message from the Bush
Administration and also from the international community, with which we have
been working very closely, is that this is a chance for a new day for the
people of Haiti. These elections must be free and fair and inclusive. The
international community stands ready to help in the preparation of the
elections, the conduct of the elections, in trying to provide security along
with the reformed national police of Haiti. But the real message is to the
people of Haiti that this is an election that could be a turning point, and
each and every citizen of Haiti should take it as his or her personal
responsibility and personal obligation and personal honor to vote. And so that
has been the message here to the government and, as I said, also to the
Haitian people. This could be a very important
turning point and could bring a different day here in
Haiti.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you said Haitian authorities must accelerate
preparations for the election. Could you be more specific? What must the
authorities
do?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I have gone over with the Provisional Electoral Council
some of the concerns. I was in a meeting with what we call the Core Group for
Haiti, that is, the international community members who are particularly
involved here in Haiti: Brazil; France; Jordan, which has forces on the ground
with MINUSTAH; the OAS; with the UN representative. And there is a concern
that there are certain decisions that need to be made about where polling
places will be, for instance, and the registration of those polling places,
the registration of electoral workers so that they can be fully trained.
The electoral calendar itself needs to be finalized so that there can be
predictability about when these elections will take
place.
Everybody with whom I spoke focused on the fact that there must be a transfer
of power by the 7th of February and that everybody believes that that is
necessary for stability here in Haiti. But in order to get there, you have to
have elections and there are successive elections that have to take place. And
so they are really in many ways, George, just technical matters that need to
be dealt with, like the registration of polling places.
And I said to the members of the Electoral Council, I said to the Prime
Minister and to the President, there is a good deal of international help and
support that is available through the UN, through MINUSTAH, through the OAS -
- very experienced people in carrying out elections -- and that I hope that
there will be full use of those. The Prime Minister also told me that he is
working on a more supportive structure for the Council. And so this is on
everybody's mind, but the decisions simply have to get
made.
PRIME MINISTER LATORTUE: Just to point something out, these concerns that were
expressed by the United States and by the international community are the
same concerns of the Haitian Government. These technical problems need to be
resolved. After the President returned from New York, the Council of Ministers
met specially to create support committees for this CEP so that measures can
be taken for the CEP to make these technical decisions so that elections take
place in a timely manner and that power is transferred by -- on February 7th.
So the concerns of the United States are the same concerns of the Haitian
Government.
QUESTION: My question is I know that several close collaborators of former
President Aristide have been incarcerated for questions of drug trafficking
and I would like to know if the same is being done for Mr. Aristide. Is there
any progress being made either to find out if he has been involved in drug
trafficking or any other
matters?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, in terms of the situation here, I have talked to the
Prime Minister and to the President about the importance of the justice
system accelerating the consideration of the cases of high-profile people
like former Prime Minister Neptune and now Father Jean-Juste because, as I've
said to the Prime Minister, justice has to come in a timely fashion and it
should not be the case that anyone can interpret that there is some kind of
political motive here. And so it is extremely important that these cases be
dealt with in a timely and, indeed, quick
fashion.
As to Mr. Aristide himself, I am certain if there are any issues there that
the international community will be prepared to cooperate. But it seems to
me that the Haitian people seem very focused right now on moving on to their
future. I am led to understand that this is an election in which candidates
are registering from a wide variety of political perspectives, including from
Lavalas. That's important. And the key here now is that those who want to
participate in this election should be allowed to
participate.
QUESTION: This question is for both of you. Back on the issue of Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, there were reports of protests here and many of the protestors,
what we're hearing, are calling for Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to Haiti.
What safeguards or guarantees are there from the United States to keep Jean-
Bertrand Aristide from returning to Haiti to commit some of the issues of
foul play that he's done in the past, and also wreak havoc with the
elections and things of that nature and incite violence
here?
And also, why is there not parity for the Haitian refugees as well to pair
them with the Cuban refugees? And I would like both of you comment on those
questions,
please.
SECRETARY RICE: Well, in fact, the international community is of one mind that
it would not be a good thing for Mr. Aristide to return. I think that is
very clear. The Haitian people are moving on. Mr. Aristide is being hosted by
the South Africans, who are clear that they would not be supportive of any
activities of his that would somehow interfere in the Haitian elections. And
I think they are carrying out those responsibilities very
well.
This is going to be an election in which there will be broad representation.
And as I said, I think anyone who wants to run in these elections should be
allowed to run in these elections because there is no reason to fear any
candidacy in a free and open election. And the most important issue here is
that the elections be free and open and
inclusive.
As to U.S. policy on immigration, it has not changed. The United States has to
be clear about its policies on refugees, both for the safety of refugees and
for the integrity of our refugee policies. And that has not
changed.
PRIME MINISTER LATORTUE: I am in total agreement with Madame Secretary of
State on her response, but I would like to add two things. First of all
concerning the deportation, I have raised the question several times with the
embassy because we discovered that there is a link between deportations and
security in Port-au-Prince. We saw that several cases of kidnappings and auto
theft have been perpetrated by individuals who were deported.
Sometimes they were people who didn't even know Haiti, who had been raised in
the United States, committed crimes in the United States, and after having
served their sentences there were sent back to Haiti. I asked for at least a
moratorium for the electoral period and this would be the contribution of the
United States to security in Haiti for this period. We talked about it. We
were unable to agree on this point but we continue to talk about
it.
My second point concerns the elections. All political parties are able to
participate in the elections. Any exclusions are due to constitutional or
legal reasons. Proof of that is that out of the 54 candidates who presented
themselves, 32 have been accepted and perhaps there will be two or three more.
There was one who was not accepted, for example, because he is no longer a
Haitian citizen. We have proof that on the 12th of February 2005, he came
with an American passport to Haiti, signed the sheet saying that he was a U.S.
citizen. And anyone can understand that he's not allowed to take part in the
elections. There were also legal objections that have to do with the fact
that some candidates might have managed government funds, and in these cases
you need to get special authorization after an audit of your administration
proving that you did not steal government
funds.
So I would like to reaffirm that this government has no concerns whatsoever as
to who will be the next president. Whoever that is, we will greet that person
with open arms and pass power on to him or her.
MR. MCCORMACK: Thank you.
Bureau de Presse et de Communication du Premier Ministre
Impasse Prosper no. 1
Musseau, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
011-509-228-6011,6013
Email: contact@primaturehaiti.org
"A l'impossible, nous sommes tenus."
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