INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CASTS VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE IN HAITIAN ELECTIONS

   
In the wake of controversy over the recent legislative elections in Haiti, the US will not send financial aid or observers for the upcoming presidential elections there, reports the September 6 edition of the New York Times. According to Luis Lauredo, the US ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Washington will also attempt to block all other development aid to Haiti from reaching the current government, channeling it instead through private nongovernmental organizations. Hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to Haiti being considered by international financial institutions will also be reviewed.

So far, the article notes, the Haitian government has refused US requests that it reconsider the May election results and name a new electoral council. An OAS mission also failed to influence the political crisis. César Gaviria, the OAS secretary general, was quoted as saying that the Haitian government seems to lack the political will to address the problem. "That increases the skepticism and the worries of the international community and some segments of Haitian society about democracy in Haiti and democratic institutions in Haiti," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com