6227: RE: Question about Caricom's election observations (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Amy Battle <AMBATTLE@ssu.edu>

  I, like some others, have been a silent member of the Corbett list for about five months now.  For the past two years, though, I have been diligently trying to learn more about the country and people of Haiti.  Being a member of this list has been helpful to me because it has opened me eyes to differing views on Haiti's past and present situation. 
  Up to now, I have been taking a lot of information from the list in.  But, after reading the post regarding Caricom's election observation mission and its voter turnout report, I feel compelled to respond in order to get some clarification about the Caricom mission.
  Mostly, I am concerned about the statement: 
"Compton's statement carries special significance because Caricom was the only international entity that sent observers to monitor the elections" (from post 6213) because of the following information:
   Prior to reading the post 6213: 15-20% turnout says Caricom, I had understood that there wasn't an "official" Caricom observation mission.  I had heard that what is now being referred to as Caricom's observer mission was actually comprised of about 4-5 people who were present  in Port-au-Prince (only) for the elections.  I had also heard that this group of 4-5 people had refused to even refer to themselves as an official delegation of election observers.  Instead, they were referring to themselves as simply a Caricom presence in Haiti for the elections.  
  So, now I am wondering if Caricom did indeed have an official observation mission for the presidential elections in Haiti.  If they did, then I am wondering in how many of the nine departments in Haiti did they observe.  Finally, I am also wondering what methodology they used to determine a 15-20% voter turnout.
  If anyone has any information about the Caricom mission that could help clarify this situation, I would be grateful if he/she could share it.  
   Thank you,
    Amy Battle
    ambattle@ssu.edu