Two days before elections are to take place in Haiti, on November 26, 2010 an attempted assassination of Haitian presidential candidate, Michel Martelly, has brought shock to the already suffering people of the Caribbean nation.
Martelly, a RESPONS PEYIZAN candidate leading in this Sunday’s presidential election, was ambushed along with his supporters in Les Cayes in southern Haiti when gunmen fired on the crowd with automatic weapons during the closing campaign rally. Approximately 200,000 people were in attendance.
Witnesses say there was a great deal of gunfire and mass confusion.
Jean François Vézina, spokesman for the UN police, confirmed the attempted Assassination against Martelly but could not say how many people were hurt in the event. Marelly and his staff were not injured in the ambush, but they remain shaken from the incident.
Unsubstantiated reports indicate that the gunmen may have been engage as part of on going corruption to thwart the election process by Jude Celestin’s campaign manager. Celestin, the INITE party’s candidate, was nominated by outgoing President Rene Preval,who cannot run for a third term under the constitution. Celestin is married to Preval’s daughter.
Karine Beauvoir, spokeswoman for Michel Martelly, stated, “We recognize some of the armed men and they are from INITE.”
Haiti has had a long history of political corruption. A recent poll published on hatian-truth.org suggests that 85% of the Haitian people believe the election will be fixed. These views conflict with UN official statements suggesting that they are confident that the elections are moving along unabated and that “good elections” will be held on Sunday.
The election was supposed to take place on February 28, 2010 but was postponed to November 28 due to an earthquake in January which left approximately 250,000 people dead and 1.6 million homeless. Further complicating the crisis in October 2010 an outbreak of cholera hit the devastated area of Port-au-Prince. The cholera epidemic has killed approximately 1,200 people and sickened around 15,000 others. The strain has been suspected of coming from UN Nepalese peacekeepers who are based on the Artibonite river. Many of the homeless victims of the January earthquake drink, wash clothes and bathe in the Artibonite river. The cholera outbreak has brought distrust against UN peacekeeper and has angered the population as the people sense that the very people sent to help them may be making matters worse.
Along with political corruption, clashes between civilians and peacekeepers continue as UN peacekeepers try to help organise and preside over the elections.
Teena Clipston - Teena Clipston is publisher and editor-in-chief of TheGreenGazette. www.thegreengazette.ca
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