27160: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-US Diplomat (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   CAPOTILLE, Haiti, March 24 (AP) -- A top U.S. diplomat urged Haitians
Friday to cast ballots in next month's legislative runoff, saying a
democratically elected government was crucial to the impoverished country's
development.
   Josette Shiner, undersecretary for economic, business and agricultural
affairs, called on voters to "register their voice" in the April 21 runoff
in which scores of candidates will compete for 129 legislative seats.
   "The most important thing about elections is that as many people as
possible in Haiti feel part of the future," Shiner told reporters while
touring U.N.-led rural development projects in Capotille, a dusty farming
village near Haiti's northern border with the Dominican Republic.
   The runoff is considered the last step in creating a new government
after former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country two years
ago amid a bloody rebel uprising, which triggered a wave of street violence
and crippled an already stagnant economy.
   Rene Preval, an agronomist and former president, won the Feb. 7
presidential elections and is to take office in May. He has said his
priority will be restoring security to the Caribbean nation so as to
attract jobs and investment.
   Shiner said the new government offered Haiti "a fresh beginning" after
two years of turmoil, and the international community was ready to help
with the country's development needs.
   Foreign donors have paid out slightly more than half of the $1 billion
pledged for reconstruction following the February 2004 revolt.
   Preval is scheduled to visit Washington next week in a trip aimed at
drumming up more aid for Haiti, the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere.