(Below is the table of contents and lead story from the most recent issue of Haiti Info, the newsletter of the Haitian Information Bureau. The lead story from each bi-weekly issue is posted in this conference. To receive the entire newsletter, you may subscribe by email, fax or mail. See the subscription information at the end of this entry). * * * HAITI INFO * * * News direct from the people and organizations of Haiti's grassroots democratic movement 19 August 1995, vol. 3 #22 Stories: ELECTIONS, JUST BARELY... Makeup Round Squeaks By, U.S. Makes Demands for Next Contests MICHEL: HAITI "OUT OF URGENCY" Nine-month Report Confirms Privatization, Other Neoliberal Measures MANNO OFF WITH A BANG: BEHIND THE DEMOLITIONS FRAPH-ER TO BE TRIED EX-REFUGEES ANGRY LE BORGNE UPDATE ANTI-IMF CONCERT PRODUCERS STRUGGLING Boxes: LATIN AMERICANS FIGHT NEOLIBERALISM WHAT THEY'VE SAID ABOUT ADJUSTMENT... Stories: ELECTIONS, JUST BARELY... Makeup Round Squeaks By, U.S. Makes Demands for Next Contests PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug. 18 - Despite the boycott by all political parties except the Lavalas platform (Bo Tab La) and PROP (the recently formed Pouvwa Rasanbleman Popile), the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) held makeup elections in 21 communal sections on Aug. 13 with few problems or disturbances, but also, according to local and foreign observers, with very low turnout. As expected, the U.S. government has endorsed them but is now pushing for changes for the next phase, while in Washington, the Republicans are exploiting the situation as presidential races heat up. Very Low Turnout The vote, delayed a week, came after vociferous disputes which culminated with the resignation of several cabinet members in support of their parties' steadfast boycott. Various party leaders launched vicious accusations. In the end however, Aug. 13 went smoothly with many candidates from the boycotting parties participating anyway. A total of 377 competed for 41 posts. Even the CEP recognized the extremely low turnout, albeit accounting for the fact that parliamentary elections are viewed as less important than the presidential race. The low numbers were no doubt due to apathy and confusion, and perhaps also to the intimidation from the non-participating parties. Results are expected this weekend. U.S., On Board, Demands Changes The U.S. quietly endorsed the races but is making louder demands for changes, pushing "the Talbott plan," presented by Assistance Secretary of State Strobe Talbott to the CEP yesterday during a surprise return visit. (He was also here three weeks ago. Other recent visitors include Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit, U.S. General John Shalikashvili, and delegations from U.S. AID and the General Accounting Office.) The eight-point plan calls for a new "consulting commission" of CEP members, diplomats and party members to decide on even more makeup races or reruns, and to oversee the second round; the enlargement of the recently set up "surveillance group"; the reimbursement to candidates, by the government, of all campaign expenses; the provision of two hours of time to all candidates on state media; a voter education campaign, and the formation of a totally new CEP to oversee the presidential race in December. The CEP issued a press release saying a commission is working on the first point, but one supposed member, Jessy Manigat, has already publicly refused. She sees it as undermining "the Haitian people's right to choose its own representatives" and warned the CEP to "provoke a public reflection on the form and the objectives of the document Mr. Talbott presented and on the true objectives of the U.S. administration." U.S. Republicans and their supporters have taken advantage of and fomented the criticism, saying they will block all financial aid destined for the December race. Robert Novak, a columnist and CNN reporter and a major putschist backer in the U.S. mainstream press, visited and produced a slew of slanderous articles claiming: "Aristide is imposing a one-party system," accusing former Prime Minister Rene Preval of being behind 80 murders and writing: "Gerard Pierre Charles (head of a research institution and Oganizasyon Politik Lavalas, part of Bo Tab La)... [is] tied to Libyan state terrorism." Lavalas Clings to Elections Weathering the criticism so far, the government and the Lavalas sector continue to push the process forward. On Aug. 8, PROP sponsored a pro-elections demonstration that drew over 1,000. Claiming they were protesting "the imperialist system" and to support candidates who had refused U.S. agency money, a member of the secretariat explained: "We know that elections are a system that the imperialists use to get control... [but] look what happened! We see a candidate like Manno Charlemagne, someone fighting against imperialism, can win!" This argument, used by other democratic organizations and militants, some honest, is specious. The problem is not who can win, but rather, what he or she can objectively do to push forward the struggle of the Haitian people in comparison with the negative aspects of such an action - creating confusion, demobilization, validation of the occupation, and so on - and with a presence inside a process so completely dominated and controlled by U.S. imperialism. 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