Central America

In Haiti, Sunday’s presidential election was marred by widespread reports of voting fraud and chaos. Twelve of Haiti’s 19 presidential candidates have called for peaceful protests against what they described as *”massive fraud.”* The candidates accused Haitian President Rene Preval of trying to steal the election and install his chosen candidate, Jude Celestin.

President Bill Clinton, now the UN Special Envoy to Haiti, publicly apologized last month for forcing Haiti to drop tariffs on imported, subsidized US rice during his time in office. The policy wiped out Haitian rice farming and seriously damaged Haiti’s ability to be self-sufficient. Journalist Kim Ives of Haiti Liberté questioned Clinton about his change of heart.

Agriculture, rural development, reforestation key to greener, more productive future.
A significant increase in national food production, rural employment and reforestation are the keys to a greener, more productive Haiti, said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf during a four-day visit to the country to launch with the government the critical spring planting season.

In a sign of growing political opposition to uranium weapons, Costa Rica has passed legislation banning their production in its Free Trade Zones. Zonas Francas or Free Ports are common throughout Latin America and are seen as a means of boosting employment in deprived areas by offering favourable operating conditions to foreign companies.

PNND welcomes Edine von Herold Duarte to its Global Council. Edine, a legislator in the Costa Rican Assembly, is a doctor of medicine who has been active in health and disarmament issues. She has submitted a number of bills which have been adopted by the Costa Rican legislature including one to prohibit Depleted Uranium weapons.

Haiti has suffered a massive blow, an earthquake for which its infrastructure was not prepared, after decades—no, centuries—of military and economic manipulation by foreign governments, most notably the United States and France. Earthquakes alone do not create disasters of the scale now experienced in Haiti. The wealthy nations have for too long exploited Haiti.

Confronted by the tragic earthquake that shook the ancestral destitution of the suffering Haitian people, a lot of debris has come to light. We, the Dominican people, did and will do everything that we should do in this painful and torturous time for the Haitian people and we appeal for them, for ourselves and for all the people of the world.

Honduras is entering a new phase following the swearing-in of a new president and the departure of the now former president Manuel Zelaya. On Wednesday, President Porfirio Lobo was sworn into office. A wealthy landowner, Lobo was elected in a November race boycotted by Zelaya supporters. Zelaya ended his four-month stay in the Brazilian embassy and left Honduras for exile.

In my Reflection of January 14, two days after the catastrophe in Haiti, which destroyed that neighboring sister nation, I wrote: “In the area of healthcare and others the Haitian people has received the cooperation of Cuba, even though this is a small and blockaded country. Approximately 400 doctors and healthcare workers are helping the Haitian people free of charge.

Haiti is preparing for a massive relocation of survivors of last week’s earthquake out of the capital Port-au-Prince. Some 400,000 people will be moved to camps outside the city. The relief effort has now abandoned most efforts to find people trapped beneath the rubble to focus on keeping the survivors alive. The US is now leading the effort to repair Haiti’s main port.