#2000: Democracy for Haiti; MOrse comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: oloffsonram <oloffsonram@globelsud.net>


Mr Florestal says that there is political freedom in Haiti...I don't 
consider the right to burn voting stations, political freedom...i don't 
consider throwing rocks, etc. at political opposition, or shooting at 
radio stations political freedom...lets go back a few years....remember 
how people lined up to ratify the constitution in 1987...remember how 
they lined up to vote for the president in december of 1990...well what 
i've noticed is the farther away we get from the guidelines of that 
constitution, the less participation you get from the people...from an 
analytical perspective, one would have to ask "who might profit from no 
elections?"...
Democracy isn't just elections...Democracy is about participation 
..the haitian people aren't participating yet...The NGO's are 
participating, foreign governments, local governments, the european 
community, the united nations, the oas, political parties, they're all 
participating, but the haitian people aren't... an analogy might go 
something like this: we'll give everyone a job, but we can't pay you 
..Haitian democracy so far has been a job, but the people 
aren't getting their paychecks...therefore "no money, no honey" has 
replaced "se pa largent, se volonte'w"...

richard morse