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Haiti Announces New Election Dates 10/30 06:20
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Haiti's government has announced new election
dates as the armed gangs who terrorize the country continue to fight against
Haitian police and soldiers, who are now backed by the recent arrival of more
than 2,000 troops from El Salvador.
The Provisional Electoral Council said late Wednesday that the first round
of general elections will be held next July 18 and the second round on Oct. 4.
Haiti has not held elections in more than a decade and is run by an
unelected prime minister. The presidency has been vacant since President
Jovenel Mose was killed in 2021.
The council said it expects to publish the final candidate list, including
those running for the presidency or the Senate, by mid-January, with May 20
marking the end of voter registration. Among the presidential hopefuls are
former presidents Michel Martelly, Claude Joseph and Jocelerme Privert, along
with a former president of Haiti's Chamber of Deputies, Gary Bodeau, and Public
Prosecutor Jean Ernest Muscadin. Martelly and Bodeau have been sanctioned by
the U.S. following allegations of corruption, while Muscadin has been accused
of summary executions of suspected criminals.
Among those seeking to become mayor of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, is
Samuel Joisil, leader of the civilian brigade of Canape-Vert, whose members
include vigilantes known for successfully pushing back the violent gangs
seeking to take over their community.
The first round of elections was initially scheduled for Dec. 13, but was
delayed by gang violence in Haiti's central region and in Port-au-Prince. Four
aviation technicians from El Salvador working with a U.N.-backed gang
suppression force went missing on Oct. 18 in the capital after coming under
attack.
In response, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent more than 2,000 troops
to Haiti to help rescue the four technicians, who the Haitian government says
were abducted.
Scrutiny of Salvadoran troops in Haiti intensifies
El Salvador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Wednesday
that Bukele had spoken with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime about
the security operation to rescue the technicians.
Meanwhile, Haiti's government issued a statement saying the two leaders are
reinforcing cooperation within the framework of the U.N.-backed gang
suppression force.
Experts have questioned exactly what role the Salvadoran troops are playing
in Haiti.
Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative
Against Transnational Organized Crime, said their rules of engagement, chain of
command, objectives and duration "remain opaque." He questioned what kind of
coordination they might have with the gang suppression force, Haitian police
and Vectus Global, the private security firm founded by former U.S. Navy SEAL
and Blackwater founder Erik Prince.
"Are we witnessing yet another model of deployment, parallel to the
multilateral framework? The role of the United States, which supported and
facilitated this deployment, also deserves scrutiny," he said.
Le Cour said the number of Salvadoran troops in Haiti will surpass that of
personnel in the gang suppression force, raising questions about the future of
the U.N.-backed force.
"What does that mean for its authority, its coherence and its future?"
He added: "the most basic question remains unanswered: why were the
Salvadoran technicians in a gang-controlled neighborhood in the first place?"
Bukele wrote on X Thursday that his country has "nearly finished" deploying
soldiers and equipment to Haiti and only wants to bring home the four missing
aviation technicians.
"This is not an operation against the Haitian people, nor an invasion of the
country of Haiti," he wrote in Haitian Creole. "We are not a great power. We
have no interest in coming to dominate the Haitian people, nor in laying hands
on Haiti's wealth."
Outcry grows over deaths and injuries of civilians
Le Cour and others also raised concerns about the safety of Haitian
civilians caught in a gun battle between Haitian gangs and the international
forces.
On Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders issued a statement calling on "the
authorities and all parties involved to spare civilians and ensure access to
health care facilities for all the wounded and sick, without distinction."
The aid agency said it treated 30 patients injured by gunfire or drone
explosions from Oct. 18-26, and that it took some of the wounded several hours
to reach hospitals run by Doctors Without Borders.
"Roads and bridges are blocked, and any travel is extremely risky," said
Davina Hayles, Doctors Without Borders head of mission in Haiti. "In a capital
city where the health care system has collapsed and many facilities are closed,
it is essential to ensure there is access to functioning health care facilities
like ours."
More than 5,700 people have been killed or wounded in Haiti from January to
mid-September, according to the U.N. Those recently killed include two Haitians
who worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
"We call on all parties concerned, including Haitian authorities as well as
the international community, to do everything in their power to protect
civilians, uphold international law, and prevent further violence," the council
said in a statement Thursday. "Neither the Haitian society nor the outside
world can tolerate that civilians, including aid workers, are killed with
impunity."
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