7845: Highlights of Radio Signal FM news (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <maxblanchet@worldnet.att.net>

1.   Haiti: Highlights of Radio Signal FM news 1230 gmt 10 May 01


Haiti: Highlights of Radio Signal FM news 1230 gmt 10 May 01
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; May 11, 2001

"0730 Appointment" news; figures in brackets indicate times in minutes
elapsed since start of programme

1. [00] Headlines.

2. [05] An OAS mission, headed by OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, will
arrive the Haitian capital today. The mission will include members from the
Caribbean Common Market, Caricom, and spend four days in Haiti. They will
meet with President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, members of the Democratic
Convergence, and representatives of civil society.

3. [06] The opposition says it is ready to meet with the OAS officials in
order to find a solution to the Haitian post-electoral political crisis. The
main rival of the Lavalas government, the Convergence, welcomes this visit.
Convergence spokesman Professor Gerard Pierre-Charles says an agreement
should be reached between the conflicting parties so the crisis can be
resolved. Pierre-Charles' statements follow: "In our opinion, it is an
important event. It is an important event for Haiti." Pierre-Charles adds:
"The OAS received a special mandate from the Quebec meeting [the Summit of
the Americas] to take a look at, to look into what is going on in Haiti and
to make sure that the opposing parties reach a solution to the crisis."
Furthermore, he says: "We perceive this as an additional contribution by the
international community, by the world environment to the unavoidable process
of modernizing Haitian society so it can comply with the universal rules of
the game. We are waiting for Gaviria and his team so we can transmit the
Haitian people's truth." He adds that the entire nation is experiencing
electricity, nutritional, health, and educational problems, whereas things
are going very well for the people in power.

4. [11] The OAS is considering requesting that new elections be held for the
eight senatorial seats for which there were vote-counting problems. The OAS
is also considering asking the opposition to recognize Aristide as the
constitutional president.

5. [12] Patrick Brutus, leader of the Work, Reconciliation, Integration, and
Organization Party [Pati Travay, Rekonsilyasyon, Entegrasyon] and former
candidate for deputy in the commune of Petion-Ville in the 21 May 2000
elections, warns some sectors who pretend to be making proposals to help
Haiti get out of the crisis it is experiencing today. Brutus thinks that the
only valid solution at this time is dialogue between the various sectors. He
spoke as follows: "Foreigners, the international community in general, and
the Haitian political sector understand that what is being settled here is a
Haitian matter. The foreigners have something to say in the matter because
they have been involved in all our matters since 1990. They participated in
all the crises that we experienced in 2000 and all the problems that we have
in 2001. So, we cannot exclude them. However, we, Haitians, are the ones who
are supposed to find the solution. Very sincerely, I do not believe that we
will be able to get out of the crucial political problem we are experiencing
now if we come with a formula that says that only eight or nine senators
were contested and that elections should be held for eight or nine
senators."

Brutus denies the information that his proposals for the resolution of the
crisis are very close to those of the Alternative for Change. He says that,
contrary to this group, he does not ask for the nomination of a prime
minister from the opposition. He says: "I do not see how this prime minister
would be ratified by a parliament 90 per cent controlled by Aristide and
Lavalas." Furthermore, Brutus calls on all political players to surpass
themselves, to put their personal interests aside, and then let the Haitian
people decide.

6. [15] The Mobilization for National Development, MDN, headed by Professor
Hubert De Ronceray, asks Haitian and foreign decisionmakers to put an end to
the electoral and political crisis. The MDN says it is time to end the
delaying and diplomatic manoeuvres and think of freeing Haiti. The following
is an excerpt from his statements: "My dear friends, things are hard and
cannot last any longer. The only thing that counts now is to gather the
little money that the country has left and send it to banks in Panama,
Luxembourg, and Tunisia. Insecurity is soaring up everyday. Scoundrels have
been installed in all public administration offices and are laying down the
law. Gangsters have replaced the police on the streets. They search people
[for money] in broad daylight. They plunder and kidnap. In Bois-Neuf, not
far from Port-au-Prince, many gangs have been formed. They say they are the
Lavalas army, that they are the Lavalas people's army."

7. [17] Franck Adelson, secretary general of the Movement for the
Organization of the Country, MOP, says the solution to the crisis Haiti is
experiencing today is through general elections. According to Adelson, the
Lavalas government does not want to resolve the crisis, and the Haitian
people should stand up to solve the problem. His statements follow: "We do
not believe that in the current situation in the country we can meet
Aristide at the Haitian National Pantheon Museum, Mupanah, at the National
Palace or in Tabarre." Adelson, who speaks of the various problems the
country is facing, rejects those who assert that the Convergence is stalling
for time: "I would like the Haitian people to know well that those very
people, the Lavalas partisans, are the ones who have taken the country to
this situation. They want to keep it in this situation while they are
stalling for time."

8. [19] Ads.

9. [24] Former Senator Paul Denis has to appear today before the office of
the examining judge. The Convergence official has to answer the questions of
Judge (Joassaint Sinclair) on the shooting death of a pro-Lavalas
demonstrator, who was shot in Pont-Morin on past 20 March during an
anti-opposition demonstration during which people's organization members
were asking for the arrest of attorney Gerard Gourgue, the
Convergence-proclaimed president. The Convergence representative said that
he fired into the air in order to disperse the demonstrators because of the
people's organizations attempts to set the premises of the Struggling
People's Organization, OPL, on fire. According to the public prosecutor,
attorney Josue Pierre-Louis, the constraining nature of this summons issued
against the OPL leader compels Denis to answer this summons.

10. [26] For his part, former Senator Paul Denis says he is ready to answer
the summons from the examining judge today. This summons was made in due
form, according to Denis.

11. [28] Attorney Gerard Dalvius, leader of Alternative Party for the
Development of Haiti, PADH, and a former major in the Haitian Armed Forces,
has been banned from leaving the country by order of the public prosecutor.
Dalvius is accused of being involved in the placement of homemade bombs in
some areas a few days before the 26 November elections. The former major
accuses Public Prosecutor Pierre-Louis of violating the legal procedures by
applying such a sanction against him. Dalvius describes the government's
decision against him as a show for the media. He spoke as follows: "I think
that the public prosecutor is violating the law or the procedure." He thinks
it is time to shed light on the malfunctioning of the Haitian judicial
system. Dalvius, who denies the accusations brought against him, says: "I
cannot know what the public prosecutor has against me and what the Lavalas
system has against me, except that I staged a demonstration that gathered
thousands of people, including about 1,000 demobilized soldiers."
Furthermore, he says: "This is precisely a political decision."

12. [31] Josue Pierre-Louis explains that, according to his conversations
with the minister of justice, all the requests of Examining Judge Gassant,
who is in charge of the investigating the murders of Jean Dominique and
Jean-Claude Louissant, have been satisfied. Pierre-Louis says various kinds
of firearms, four policemen, a vehicle, a computer, and many other materials
are now at the service of Judge Gassant. Pierre-Louis says that he is
confident as to the successful conclusion of the investigations of
Dominique's murder.

13. [34] Ads.

14. [36] Economic segment by Georges Henry, Jr, on the economic consequences
of the Haitian political crisis. This persistent crisis, marked by more and
more disconcerting delaying manoeuvres, is leading the country to economic
disaster, according to Henry.

15. [40] Ads, followed by international news.

16. [44] The members of the High Council of the Haitian National Police,
CSPNH, including Justice Minister Gary Lissade, and the PNH director were
received at the controversial parliament yesterday. Justice Minister Lissade
and PNH Director Lucien met with the members of the Justice and Security
Committee of the lower chamber. The discussions focused on the kidnapping
phenomenon that is now prevailing in the country. The justice minister
announced the formation within the PNH of a structure that will be in charge
of working on this issue: the Unit for the Struggle Against Kidnapping
[Unite de Lutte Contre le Kidnapping, ULCK]. It will depend on the judicial
management of the PNH. Furthermore, Lissade acknowledged that some policemen
are actually involved in many crimes.

17. [47] The Chamber of Deputies' Justice and Security Committee has made
recommendations to the CSPNH. The recommendations include the following: no
vehicles should be allowed to move around without license plates or with
tinted windows. The committee also hopes that justice and police officials
will take measures to arrest those who are involved in kidnapping.
Controversial Senator Dany Toussaint said that he wanted to join them to
solve this problem once for all. His statements follow: "I have been
fighting for that for a long time.... We have taken up this responsibility
again. We are assuming the responsibility of saying what everybody is afraid
to say aloud and is whispering... I have decided to give my life for the
lives of the rest of society so Haiti can fight and put an end to the
question of zenglendos. They have issued a challenge. If the CSPNH wants to
cooperate, I have decided to do [words indistinct] to give this country a
chance about this question of insecurity, because it is something
programmed, it is something that is being done so everybody will run away.
If the people who have money are being chased away, what will they do? They
will go and enjoy security in the Dominican Republic and other countries.
They will leave the country. We are experiencing a political crisis and
cannot get aid. When these people leave the country, where will the
government find the money to pay you senators who are here? Where will they
get the money to pay you? I think, I say, and I believe that we must provide
security so investments can become something serious in this country."

18. [51] Moneychangers in Petion-Ville denounced misdeeds by policemen, who
pretend that they want to exchange money while they are actually trying to
rob them.

19. [53] Ads.

20. [56] Cultural news.

21. [58] Health news on the celebration today at the Montana Hotel of the
10th Paediatric Day. On this occasion, the Haitian Paediatric Society will
organize two days of lectures and debates with health professionals.

22. [60] News summary.

Source: Signal FM Radio, Port-au-Prince, in Creole 1230 gmt 10 May 01

/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.