Tag: Rene Civil

Haiti's largest political movement and party, Fanmi Lavalas, organized a second successful boycott of Senate elections yesterday, posing a serious challenge to their credibility. President Rene Preval's handpicked Conseil Electoral Provisoire (CEP) excluded the Fanmi Lavalas party from participation in the elections on a technicality.

Haiti's Lavalas movement effectively destroyed the credibility of the April 19 Senate election through a successful boycott campaign called Operation Closed Door. Participation may have been as low as 3 percent nationwide.

Grassroots activist Ronald Dauphin, a supporter of President Aristide, was arrested by armed paramilitary troops on March 1, 2004 - the day after U.S. officials forced Aristide into exile. Mr. Dauphin has spent five years in jail without having been convicted of any crime.

Four tropical storms in a month killed between 500 and 1,000 Haitians and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Because preparedness under Aristide had been abandoned and the U.N. won't help, damage and suffering are much worse than necessary.