Jean Betrand Aristide is still the constitutionally-elected President of Haiti

Bring Aristide back to Haiti, enough is enough!

Opinions on Opinions
by Randall White

Haiti deserves a fair election. The courage of the People of Haiti has proven - time and again - that they deserve to have their constitution respected. The crush of voters last week participated in an illegal and sham process that was forced upon them by the USA-installed coup government.

So, what happens now? The coup government has had enough time to deliver a complete count. The international community has had enough time to run affairs at the point of a gun. The USA, Canada and France have had their chance and they got everything they asked for.

After two years, millions of dollars (at least $75 million dedicated to running just this one election) and the overwhelming participation of the people, the international community has proven that they are incapable of running a fair election in Haiti. The images of trashed ballots are everywhere to prove that point. But that is just one of many "irregularities" of these illegal elections.

Go and ask the people of Carrefour what they had to go through to get those ballots into the infamous dump of Titanyen - to join the thousands corpses of pro-democracy heros dumped there in an attempt to crush their hope for self determination. Those ballots were presumed to have been under the protection of the UN, maybe they were...

Now, the US is trying to bargain its own will over the choice of the Haitians, yet again. The US have offered to "let Preval take the presidency of Haiti if he will make concessions." They have no shame. Enough is enough!

Restore the elected democracy that has proven that - even in the worst of times - it could administer 12,000 polling places where the richest and most powerful can't even manage 800. Set free the political prisoners, return the exiled leaders to their country and watch them run a fair election.

It's an idea is saner than anything coming the US Embassy. Of course, I realize, that it's highly unlikely that the rulers of "This World" will even consider it.

Of course, President Preval (former presidents are formally addressed as "President") could take the presidency.

The evidence is staggering. On election day Préval probably obtained over two-thirds of the support — of voters registered by the coup government — that tried to vote that day. He's certainly qualified to take the office, in addition to being experienced. He certainly deserves to be President. The problem is, by who's unquestioned authority.

No matter what President René Garcia Préval does, the USA has predetermined that its bloody thumbprint will cast a pall over the results of this election no matter who was "elected." Even more so, what kind of Parliament will come as a result of this shady election? It's likely that Préval feels that he's been had, and there have been moments that he's regretted participating in this charade.

Bring back Aristide. Let the People of Haiti restore their own democracy and begin a national dialogue to run fair election. You can trust that the resulting leadership — without US intervention — would be able answer my question:

What happens now?

RAW