#4651: COHA press release: Chamberlain comments (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

(...)

> (By Reed Lindsay and Zsombor Peter, Research Associates)


> The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, 
> is an independent, non-partisan and tax exempt research 
> and information organization. It has been described on 
> the floor of the Senate as being "one of the nation’s most 
> respected bodies of scholars and policy makers."


Well, you could've fooled me, and I'm sure many others.
This kind of partisan rant, replete with all the politically-
correct language and failure to mention 
the startling account the CEP president gave of the 
government pressures on him is a sad commentary 
on what has been a respected body in the past.  
I can't think this "analysis" will persuade anyone.
The authors badly need to take a short course in 
basic psychology.

The passage below is all the evidence one needs
that the authors understand nothing about small
countries struggling with poverty and institution-
building, and certainly nothing about the present
situation in Haiti.

> Under the Haitian constitution, the CEP is an 
> entirely independent agency and the executive 
> branch, even if it was anxious to do so, could not 
> interfere with its operations.  


And this:

> ...the opposition, splintered into more than sixty 
> political parties, has a miniscule number of 
> followers many of them who supported the 
> military junta and have taken bribes from various 
> sources and... 

I have seen a figure of 1.2 million people who
voted for the non-Lavalas parties.

John, I hope you didn't brief these guys.  If so, 
you should be ashamed of yourself!

Poor Haiti.  With guys like these posing as its "friends"...

        Greg Chamberlain