Post-Election Protests Begin in Northern Haiti

Significant post-election protests and violence may be beginning in Northern Haiti, particularly around the city of St. Marc. As reported by Haitian radio, at least 15 have been injured in those demonstrations which have pitted UN peacekeepers against alleged supporters of Mirlande Manigat, many of whom continue to question Sunday’s vote for a new president, a third of the Haitian Senate and a new chamber of deputies. According to the AP, backers of Madame Manigat and Michel “Sweet Mickey” Martelly have become most visible on the streets since Sunday’s vote, but both candidates, at least for the moment, seem willing to accept the results of Sunday’s vote once tabulations are completed. No results are expected for at least one more week.

That position marks a significant step back from the election-day demands, made by Manigat, Martelly, and 10 other presidential contenders, that the vote be cancelled because of “massive fraud.” Speaking Tuesday, the AP says, Martelly called on his supporters to “remain mobilized.” For its part, the Miami Herald reports on significant demonstrations in Gonaives as well while the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin, is urging a peaceful resolution to Sunday’s disputed vote. Ramdin:

“Violence will not solve Haiti's problems. Divisions will not solve Haiti's problems. What Haiti needs is an understanding from all of the minds that they need to work together and the only way to do that is with proper dialogue.”

On Tuesday, the official joint OAS-Caricom monitoring mission (JEOM) again noted that many things went seriously wrong Sunday (among them Ramdin himself cites deaths, voter intimidation/manipulation, and generally poor administrative preparation). But despite such irregularities (about which the Herald has more), the OAS has continued to echo the sentiment of Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), arguing the vote should not be invalidated. The OAS:

“The JEOM has considered whether the irregularities it observed were of the magnitude and consistency that would invalidate the legitimacy of the process. Based on its observations in the eleven electoral departments, the Joint Mission does not believe that these irregularities, serious as they were, necessarily invalidated the process.”

In an editorial this morning, the New York Times seems to side with the OAS, maintaining that “Haitians…need to believe that their next leaders were legitimately elected. That appears to be the case.” That last claim is one which many who observed Sunday’s vote – and the chaos which accompanied it – will no doubt take issue. US Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), in Haiti with a US congressional delegation this weekend, says he has “serious concerns” about the vote. In a joint statement, via the AP, the congressional delegation said it “urges the U.S. government, the OAS and the UN to give full consideration to the charges of fraud and abuse and to await the result of any investigation before passing judgment on the conduct of Haiti's elections.” Meanwhile, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, who had staff in Port-au-Prince Sunday, goes further. CEPR says the international community should reject whatever results come from Sunday’s vote, demand the replacement of the CEP, and allow all eligible political parties to participate in a new election.

The question that remains is what to do in the interim as anti-government sentiment grows, potentially boiling over into mass protest around the country.

Also on Haiti:

· Paul Farmer has a short, but excellent, piece in this month’s Foreign Policy, offering five lessons about foreign aid that have come from Haiti over the last year. The need to create jobs/economic growth, the need to build state capacity, and the need to focus efforts on home reconstruction seem to be three of his most important points.

· In Mexico, the LA Times reports on the arrest of a top La Familia capo, Jose Alfredo Landa Torres (aka ‘Skinny’). The arrest comes as the Michoacan-based trafficking syndicate made a second statement earlier in the week, saying it would be willing to talk with the government about disbanding. Some analysts speculate those statements suggest growing weakness within the organization.

· Near Ciudad Juarez, the AP says the Mexican army has discovered a series of new mass graves, holding some 20 bodies. Authorities believe the bodies were buried between four and eight months ago. Also, according to EFE, Mexico’s Public Secretariat claims the crime rate in Mexico’s murder city of Juarez has fallen over recent months. EFE: “A total of 299 drug-related murders were registered in Ciudad Juarez in October, while 150 murders have been reported so far in November, the federal agency said.” Meanwhile kidnappings have “shown a downward tendency, being reduced by half in the past month, falling from 14 cases in October to 7 so far in the month of November,” according to the secretariat’s statement released Monday.

· And the New York Times reports on a new and very disturbing report from the human rights group Disability Rights International. The report documents the “atrocious and abusive” conditions in Mexican institutions set up to care for the mentally and physically disabled.

· In Brazil, the New York Times says the governor of Rio de Janeiro has asked that some 2000 troops remain in two Rio favelas, Alemao and Vila Cruzeiro, until next October. The request follows military actions taken against traffickers in the shantytowns last week. According to Gov. Sergio Cabral, time is needed for the military police to train a new community policing unit for the two favelas. More from the LA Times.

· Last week, Tim Rogers at the Tico Times reported on claims made by the Honduran government that the Nicaraguan military was training and supplying anti-Lobo Honduran “guerrillas” operating in Bajo Aguan. The Nicaraguan military categorically denied the allegations. RAJ at Honduras Culture and Politics offers more analysis of the charges, calling them the latest in a series of government “dreams” about insurgency – dreams which have led to the birth of new private security and paramilitary groups, hired by large landowners in Bajo Aguan.

· Mercopress reports that Venezuela is on the verge of entering MERCOSUR as a full member. “Horse trading” between Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo and the opposition Liberal Party, mostly over ambassadorial appointments, appears to have secured enough congressional votes for Paraguay to approve Venezuela’s entry into the regional economic bloc. Mercopress: “According to the Asunción press the Liberals were promised the embassies in Uruguay and Brazil which have been vacant for over twelve months since there was no political agreement on nominations.” Lugo says if the Venezuela vote goes through, he will immediately request that his parliament move on finally approving UNASUR’s charter as well.

· At Foreign Policy last week Stephen Johnson on the regional defense ministers meetings (CDMA) in Bolivia. And in the Miami Herald, conservative columnist Carlos Alberto Montaner comments on that same conference – I think suggesting the US start treating the ALBA countries like the US once treated the Soviet Union.

· More Latin America-related Wikileaks information, including US diplomaic frustration with Rene Preval in Haiti, claims of Cuban spies in Venezuela, and more. According to Wikileaks, by way of the Miami Herald, “nations in South and Central America are mentioned 33,805 times, or in about 8 percent of the communications. Topping the list is Venezuela, which appears 3,435 times, Brazil at 3,070 times and Colombia at 2,896 times.” Also, Rafael Correa has corrected a low level Ecuadorean official’s earlier statement that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange would be offered residency in Ecuador. According to Correa, such a proposal “has not been approved by Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino - or the president.”

· And finally, the National Security Archive’s Peter Kornbluh and Marian Schlotterbeck with a fascinating piece in the Santiago Times on how, in the mid-1980s, the US finally decided to break with the notorious Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet – propped up by the US in 1973. Among other things, “the [1986] execution, by burning, of a Chilean teenager who had just returned from living in exile in Washington D.C.,” write Kornbluh and Schlotterbeck, “refocused the attention of high Reagan officials on the need to increase pressure on Pinochet to leave.”