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26568: Hermantin (news) toussaint ad campaign turns motorists' heads (fwd)





From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Nov. 12, 2005

Miami Herald

HAITI | PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Toussaint ad campaign turns motorists' heads

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

He is a former Haitian senator and suspected killer who is banned from the United States. But that isn't stopping Dany Toussaint from seeking the Haitian presidency -- or making an appearance in South Florida.

Not to be outdone by the slew of Haitian presidential candidates who have been appearing at campaign fundraisers and political rallies here, Toussaint has decided to make his presidential pitch in a big way:

A life-size billboard bearing his image popped up this week on southbound Interstate 95 near the Northwest 69th Street exit.

Decorated in the blue, red and white colors of Haiti's flag, the sign reads: Dany Toussaint Haiti's Next President! Ensuring Security, Health, Tourism, Education & Agriculture.

Toussaint's grand entrance onto the political scene in South Florida has kept the airwaves of the Haitian community radio stations crackling.

'We haven't mentioned his name in weeks. Ever since the billboard, people have been calling, `Did you see it? Did you see it?' '' said Ed Lozama, host of a Creole-language morning radio talk show on Planet 17 (1700 AM). 'This is a grand way for him to say `I am here,' too.''

Jocelyn McCalla, head of the New York-based National Coalition for Haitian Rights, couldn't stop laughing after hearing about the billboard, joking that at least Toussaint ``is spending good money here.''

The billboard, he said, not only demonstrates that perhaps Toussaint has a bit more money to spend than his competitors, but ``it also highlights the importance of the Haitian expatriate community, particularly in the United States.''

Though Haitian Americans are not allowed to vote in Haiti's upcoming presidentialelections, which have been postponed from Nov. 20 to sometime next month, they can influence their family and friends back in Haiti.

Still, the mere fact that Toussaint is a presidential candidate points to an even larger issue with Haiti's already problematic elections, McCalla said.

A former Aristide ally who once headed the U.S.-trained interim National Police force trained in the 1990s, Toussaint quickly became a nefarious character, accused of drug trafficking by U.S. officials.

And in Haiti, he has been linked to several political assassinations including that of Haiti's most prominent journalist, Jean Dominique. He has never been charged, and the Dominique case remains unsolved.

Still, the implication put him on a U.S. State Department list of Haitians ''credibly alleged'' to have committed ''extra-judicial and political murders'' in Haiti, barring himfrom entering the United States.

He also was described by two members of U.S. Congress intelligence committee as ``credibly linked by a number of U.S. government agencies to narcotics trafficking in Haiti.''

''Dany Toussaint is just a symptom of a big problem that exists in Haiti,'' McCalla said. ``You don't have the institutions that can raise a flag when folks like Toussaint or the others like him seek the presidency. Toussaint is not the only person who has been involved in corruption, illicit practices or even in perpetrating or commissioning murders.''

Toussaint did not return calls for comment, but in the past has vehemently denied any involvement in drugs or assassination plots.

Lavarice Gaudin, a leading member of the pro-Aristide group Veye Yo, who also hosts a South Florida Creole-language radio program, said he also has been fielding calls about the Toussaint billboard. He too finds Toussaint's candidacy mind-boggling.

''Under the Aristide administration the [U.S.] State Department asked Aristide for Dany Toussaint's head as a drug dealer. So as soon as they kidnap Aristide . . . Dany no longer becomes a drug dealer? Now they accept Dany as a president for candidate in Haiti,'' he said.

''I don't understand the morality of the U.S. government,'' he said.

The State Department has not taken any public stance on the Haitian presidential election.

Toussaint is among 35 candidates Haitian electoral authorities on Friday approved in a revised presidential candidate list.

The list did not include Miami Lakes resident Samir Mourra, or Texas millionaire Dumarsais Siméus. Both were excluded because they hold U.S. passports.

Haiti's constitution bars anyone from running for president if they have dual nationality and have not lived in the country for the past five years.






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