Posted 8:50 PM by John Adams |
Mardi Gras Came and Went

Revelers in flowing purple and white robes cracked bullwhips amid the crowds Monday night as part of a ritual meant to chase away evil spirits. Some people paraded about with painted faces, capes and feathered headdresses. (Read more)

Posted 8:46 PM by John Adams |
IMF Criticizes Haiti For Poor Economic Policies
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, must dramatically improve management of its economy, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

The IMF "expressed deep concern about Haiti's worsening economic and social conditions, and in particular, the widening of the fiscal deficit, the accumulation of external arrears, and further increases in poverty," the IMF said in a press summary of its annual "Article IV" review of the economy.

Haiti's economy has worsened during the last two years, with rising deficits financed mainly by the central bank and through accumulation of arrears. International reserves held by the central bank have declined from efforts to support the currency, the gourde ($1=HTG41.00), which has also fallen in value.

"Political difficulties have deterred the authorities from taking corrective measures aimed at stemming the loss in international reserves, containing inflation, and promoting growth," the IMF said. Top priorities for 2003 should be rebuilding central bank reserves, now at $45 million or two weeks of imports, and containing inflation.

The government needs to improve transparency and accountability of its spending, the IMF said. The IMF "emphasized the importance of strengthening cash management by restricting the use of discretionary ministerial accounts."

The IMF also recommended enhanced banking and credit supervision, and action to privatize state-owned firms in the energy, telecommunications and transportation sectors.

-By Elizabeth Price, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9295; Elizabeth.Price@dowjones.com

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Posted 8:42 PM by John Adams |
A hidden view of Haiti's trouble
Jim DeFede/Commentary

Michele Montas wrapped up her visit to Miami on Saturday, but she didn't return to Haiti. Instead she went into hiding.

How long she will remain outside her beloved Haiti no one knows, least of all Montas. It may just be for a few weeks. Or it may be longer. But right now Haiti is far too dangerous a place for the widow of Jean Dominique, the Haitian journalist who was killed in 2000.

On Christmas Day, there was an assassination attempt against Montas, in which her bodyguard was killed. Montas, a journalist, has been unrelenting in demanding justice for her husband's murder. Because of her efforts, the judge assigned to investigate Dominique's murder has prepared a report naming those responsible.

All that is left is for the report to be released. But once again, no one knows when that will be. In the meantime, the pressure inside Haiti builds. The attempt to murder Montas on Christmas Day was seen by many as an effort to block the report from ever being released. If Montas were dead, the theory holds, then the driving force behind releasing the report would be gone.

Before coming to Miami to receive a free speech award from People for the American Way, Montas closed the radio station she and her husband owned because of increased threats against her reporters. Radio Haiti Inter was one of the few sources for unbiased news in Haiti.

There are a lot of people in the United States who would like to use Montas' plight to attack Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Indeed, it now seems almost certain that the men responsible for Dominique's murder -- and, presumably, the assassination attempt on Montas -- will have links to Aristide's political party.

Montas, however, was very careful not to attack Aristide. Instead, she portrays Aristide as being a president who has lost control of those around him. It would be a mistake, she said during the Miami Film Festival, where a Jonathan Demme documentary about her husband was shown, to equate Aristide with the dictators of Haiti's past. Aristide, after all, was elected. And the political violence today, while still obscene, is less pervasive when compared to the thousands who were murdered under the regimes of ''Papa'' and ''Baby Doc'' Duvalier.

''Before we always knew who was shooting at us,'' she told me. ``It was the army, it was the dictatorship. Today, if I want to be honest, I have to say, I don't know who is responsible.''

Is it someone who is connected to Aristide's Lavalas Family political party? Or is it someone who claims to be aligned, but who really isn't?

Certainly Aristide needs to do more. First and foremost, he must clean up Haiti's corrupt police department. You cannot have democracy in a country where there is no rule of law or body to enforce it. ''Right now the Haitian police force is very fragile,'' Montas said.

Between 1995 and 1998, the United States provided money and technical support to help the Haitian police force. During that time, Montas said, the department was a sign of hope for Haitians. But when the U.S. abruptly, and unwisely, pulled out in 1998, the department eroded quickly.

For the past five years, the United States has blocked all aid to the Haitian government -- including much needed support for its police -- and has forced other countries and financial organizations to do the same.

The American government decided this was necessary because of a handful of contested election results in Haiti. Of course, when there were no elections in Haiti and the country had a U.S.-friendly dictatorship, the money flowed freely.

''I do not believe the embargo against Haiti is a valid answer to the country's problems,'' Montas said.

And for those in Miami who think this issue doesn't affect them, consider this: The best way to keep Haitians from fleeing to Florida is to make conditions better for them in Haiti. ''When Haiti sneezes,'' the Haitian proverb goes, ``it is the United States that catches the cold.''

Copied from the Miami Herald.