CLINTON IN HAITI: HEY, WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

lchirino – thesouthjournal
No government official welcomed Hillary Clinton at the airport. Political activists raised banners rejecting US interference in Haiti.
South Journal—Upon her arrival at the international airport in Haiti, on Sunday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was met only by her ambassador to Port-au-Prince Kenneth Merten, since not a single Haitian government official was there to welcome her.
A group of political activists gathered across from the air terminal to reject US interference in Haitian internal affairs by bearing banners reading: “Down with the Interference,” “No US solutions,” EFE news agency reported.
The group of people tried to raise barricades, but they were immediately controlled by the police.
Clinton, who wound up her visit on Sunday, met with Haitian President Rene Preval and with the three presidential candidates to address the crisis facing the country following last November 28 elections.
She also met with representatives of the civil society and visited a health care center that is assisting cholera patients in order to learn about the struggle being waged against that disease, which has thus far killed 4 000 people and has affected over 200 000.
A spokesperson at the US embassy in Haiti said that the Secretary of State told local reporters that the democratic process has to advance and that her government believes that the report issued by a commission with the Organization of American States (OAS) offers a route to some electoral results that reflect the will of the Haitian people.
The official results of the first round of elections, denounced as fraudulent by the opposition, gave ex-first lady and presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat some 31, 37 percent of the votes, ruling party candidate Jude Celestin 22, 48 and singer Michel Martelly 21,48 of the votes.
However, a report issued by the OAS reduced the votes garnered by the three candidates in the face of irregularities and estimated that Manigat had obtained 31,6 percent of the votes, Martelly got 22,2 and Celestin 21,9. Then the OAS suggested the exclusion of Celestin from a second round of elections to allow the unstable country to get out of the crisis that followed the electoral results.
The Inite party announced the withdrawal of candidate Celestin last week, which would give green light to Manigat and Martelly in their fight for the presidency, though electoral authorities have not confirmed that the ruling party candidate has officially withdrawn his campaign.
Clinton said that she would like to see that OAS suggestion made a reality, in direct reference to the OAS report. She said that it was an international message to solve the Haitian crisis.
In her statements to local radio stations, Clinton reiterated her government´s long-term commitment to Haiti and to its reconstruction process following the earthquake that devastated several Haitian cities a year ago.
The US Secretary of State visited Haiti few days after the United States revoked entry visas to an group of Haitian officials. The measure was announced January 21 and at the same time the State Department reiterated its call for the advancement of Haiti towards a “free, fair and credible” electoral process.
The second round of elections in Haiti are scheduled to take place March 20 as announced by the Provisional Electoral Council, which said that the definitive results of the first round will be released on February 2.