[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 24, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E958]]
       HAITI'S FUTURE: THE TASK OF REBUILDING A SHATTERED NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 24, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge that many 
challenges lie ahead for President Rene Preval as he embarks on the 
task of rebuilding and developing the country of Haiti. I am in full 
support of Rene Preval and I wish him well as he strives to reconcile 
his countrymen through better communications and commitments for peace 
and progress.
  Haiti is a country plagued with trouble and instability. Preval's 
successors, the interim administration, were not able to unite the 
country. A rebellion that led to the ouster of the former president, 
Jean Bertrand Aristide, also set the country on a path of violence, 
crime and bloodshed from which it may take years to recover. Rene 
Preval's election is clearly the best thing that could have happened to 
the country as it has served to give hope to its population of eight 
million-plus people.
  While President Preval pledges to lead the country in unity he 
continues to cite that the solution to Haiti's problems is in the hands 
of the Haitians. Needless to say, the country could benefit greatly 
with assistance from the United States, Canada and France.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to be generous with U.S. assistance to 
Haiti at this time when they need it most. None of us want to see Haiti 
revert to its previous political and security conditions. Contributions 
of aid and finances must be followed through and the Caribbean region 
must also re-engage with Haiti to help them on the course to peace and 
development.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to enter into the Congressional Record an 
editorial by Tony Best from the May 23, 2006 edition of the New York 
CaribNews entitled Haiti's Future--The Task of Rebuilding a Shattered 
Nation. This article sheds light on Haiti's plight.

       Haiti's Future, the Task of Rebuilding a Shattered Nation

                        (Editorial by Tony Best)

       ``If we don't talk, then we will only fight.'' Rene Preval, 
     Haiti's newly installed President, struck an important and 
     positive note for reconciliation, peace and development in 
     his nation as he began the second, but not successive, term 
     as his country's leader.
       His return to the Presidential palace in Port au Prince is 
     being widely hailed as an opportunity step forward if the 
     country is follow a growth path, recognizing that his is an 
     unenviable task. Preval needs the cooperation and active 
     involvement of Haitians of all stripes and social class, 
     whether at home or abroad if their shattered country is to 
     serve its eight million-plus people. It goes without saying 
     that the international community, especially the United 
     States, Canada and France must help lead the way towards 
     reconstruction and unity.
       Caribbean nations too, especially those in Caricom must 
     also do their part. But as Preval himself said on Sunday as 
     he took the oath of office, ``the solution to our problems is 
     in our hands.'' Outside economic and political forces can 
     help drive the engines of progress but in the end, Haitians 
     must be responsible for their future.
       When Preval ran the country for the first time between 
     1996-2001, he sought to unite the fractured society. But with 
     Haiti polarized between his mentor and predecessor in office, 
     Jean Bertrand Aristide, and those who opposed Lavalas and the 
     former Roman Catholic priest Preval's record fell far short 
     of the high expectations. Now he has a chance to redeem 
     himself.
       Fortunately, he was not viewed as a corrupt politician, 
     interested only in himself and the interest of his cronies. 
     Preval has succeed an interim administration that lost its 
     way from the get-go and was never able to unite the country 
     as Haiti had to grapple with more than its share of trouble, 
     insurrection and instability.
       A rebellion set in motion by the machinations of people in 
     Washington and carried out by Haitians in the Dominican 
     Republic and elsewhere, not only led to the ouster or 
     abduction of President Aristide but set the country on a path 
     of violence, crime and bloodshed from which it may take years 
     to recover. The recent presidential election, which Preval 
     won fair and square, was perhaps the best thing that could 
     have happened to the country.
       The Republications in Washington, who played a key role in 
     Aristide's ouster and in the instability that followed, must 
     see itself as a part of the solution, having helped to create 
     some of the problems.
       Preval, a former ally of the ousted former President who is 
     cooling his heels in South Africa, must battle some 
     formidable obstacles and challenges that run the gamut from 
     weak judicial institutions, an inept and corrupt bureaucracy 
     and a devastated economy to rising crime and lawlessness, not 
     to mention the lack of a democratic tradition needed to 
     prevent political forces from turning on each other and 
     prolonging the agony.
       As if to send a strong message to the new head of state 
     about the enormity of the task ahead of him, inmates of the 
     national penitentiary went on a rampage, demanding their 
     freedom and calling for better treatment. Shots were fired 
     and when the inmates appeared on the roof they help up two 
     bodies, apparently those of inmates, according to a news 
     agency account, Haitian police and United Nations armed 
     personnel were quickly able to restore order.
       If Preval and his administration needed a reminder of the 
     troubles ahead that brief incident showed them that whether 
     on the streets of the urban centers or behind bars, chaos 
     could erupt at any time.
       It also underscored the need to address the ills facing the 
     awful justice system and the inhumane conditions in prison, 
     something the U.N. Envoy in Haiti, Juan Gabriel Valdes, urged 
     Preval to do something about. After all, hundreds of prisons 
     have been languishing in prison for extended period of time 
     under the most wretched of conditions.
       Preval must break with the past, especially the past two 
     years during which the interim Prime Minister, Gerard 
     LaTortue and his ministers ignored human rights issues and 
     the need for the prompt delivery of justice. Instead, they 
     preferred to spend much of their time attacking Aristide's 
     supporters.
       It also failed miserably to come to grips with the day-to-
     day economic and social difficulties that plague the average 
     Haitian. And as the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere, 
     Haitians who suffered the most numbered in the millions.
       That hard fact of life may explain why the UN envoy urged 
     President Preval to show Haitians that he means business.
       ``It is critical for him to be able in the first year . . . 
     to show Haitians that he can produce some change in their 
     lives,'' Valdes told the Associated Press. ``It would be 
     frankly intolerable to see that for lack of international 
     assistance at this point in time the country goes back to 
     previous political and security conditions.''
       The depth of the financial and development crunch is there 
     for all to see. So far, the rich nations have pledged $1.2 
     billion in aid but only $200 million of that amount has been 
     invested in development projects.
       The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others can 
     and must do better, much better than that.
       Clearly, much of the trouble isn't at Haiti's doorsteps. 
     Its roots are in the complicated and unfathomable rules 
     imposed by the international financial institutions on how 
     the money must be spent.
       We agree with Valdes when he said, ``A country in this 
     situation cannot be forced to follow rules that will bring it 
     political catastrophe.''
       For its part, the Caribbean region, which largely stood on 
     the sidelines during the chaos of the past two years, must 
     become re-engaged with Haiti again. It must welcome the 
     country and its president back into the regional fold and 
     while it may not have the financial resources to help get the 
     job done, it certainly possesses the human capital and the 
     experience to set the French-speaking nation on the right 
     course to peace and development.
       In his inaugural address President Preval stressed the 
     value of better communications, telling Haitians, ``we need 
     to make peace through dialogue and talking to each other so 
     we can decide where we want to go together. If we don't talk, 
     then we will only fight and there will be no peace.'' Well 
     said.

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