[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 109 (Friday, June 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S9563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                AN IMPORTANT STEP FOR DEMOCRACY IN HAITI

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last Sunday, the Republic of Haiti 
held parliamentary and local elections. These were the first elections 
in Haiti since the United States forced Raoul Cedras and his henchmen 
to abandon power and allow the return of democratically elected 
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last fall.
  These elections were the first test of President Aristide's 
commitment to establish real democracy in Haiti, and they were watched 
closely by the international community.
  Mr. President, the elections were far from perfect. The selection of 
candidates leading up to the election was not as open, well-organized, 
and impartial as many of us would have liked. Some voting stations 
opened late. Some station workers were not paid their promised salaries 
and did not execute their responsibilities conscientiously. Some voters 
were not given full privacy in voting and there were some reports of 
voter intimidation. Some ballots were lost or miscounted.
  These irregularities were unfortunate, although given Haiti's tragic 
history, not unexpected. But the fact that these elections were 
imperfect in no way confirms, as some would suggest, that President 
Aristide and his government are insincere in their expressions of 
commitment to true democracy, or that the administration's policy there 
has failed. Far from it.
  Let us be realistic. Haiti is the poorest country in this hemisphere. 
So many people are illiterate that the ballots had to carry symbols to 
identify the different parties. Many villages cannot be reached by road 
at all. The only highway across the country is literally impassible 
except by 4-wheel-drive. Most of the people have had no experience at 
all with democracy and have only the vaguest notion of what
 it means and how it should work.

  In a country like Haiti today, the conduct of elections cannot 
possibly be perfect. Some mistakes and malpractice are inevitable.
  But one must start somewhere, and the fact that these elections were 
held at all is an important achievement. Even more important, indeed 
historic, is that fact that there was practically no violence. We 
should remember past elections in that country, where the Government 
and its armed thugs intimidated, beat, and murdered in cold blood 
people waiting in line to vote.
  The real question, Mr. President, is whether the Haitian people are 
satisfied. My perception is that the vast majority of the Haitian 
people feel that they took an important step forward with this 
election, and one more step away from the atrocities of the past. We 
owe it to those people now to help them get to work on the next step.
  I want to commend President Clinton, General Shalikashvili, who has 
been to Haiti many times over the past couple of years, Secretary 
Christopher and others, who had the patience and sense of history to 
devote the attention and effort that they have to the cause of 
democracy in Haiti.
  In a hemisphere where the trend is decidedly in favor of elected 
civilian government, I do not believe the United States could ignore 
the brutality in Haiti. Our resolve there in support of the Haitian 
people's yearning for a better life, has sent a strong signal in 
support of democratic government throughout the hemisphere.


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