Reality in Writing : Caribbean Political Economy

Originally Posted on: America Latin en Movimiento Posted on: December 24th, 2010 Link to Original: http://alainet.org/active/43412 The Denial of Self Determination: The International Community in Haiti By: Kevin Edmonds Alainet.org December 24th, 2010 The Denial of Self Determination: Haiti and the International Community Haitians’ battle for sovereignty and social justice is more than 200 years old By Kevin Edmonds Originally published in Spanish in America Latina en Movimiento (Latin America in Motion), December 2010 issue, http://alainet.org/publica/alai461.pdf . Author's Translation: If any nation in the history of humanity has been terrorized by the naked brutality and hypocritical logic of modernity, it has been Haiti. One would assume that the Haitian Revolution in 1804 would be looked upon as a pivotal moment which helped to shape the ideas of freedom, equality and justice. This was not the case. Since it’s independence in 1804, Haiti has been the victim of bo

Originally posted on: NACLA.org Posted on: December 7th, 2010 Original link: https://nacla.org/node/6837 Haiti's Presidential Elections By: Kevin Edmonds NACLA.org Dec 7 2010 On November 28, I took part in an informal electoral observation delegation to Haiti, observing the election with one of six teams made up of Haitian grassroots organizations, lawyers, and journalists. 1 Nineteen political candidates were running for president in an election that many considered one of the most important in the tormented nation’s history. A majority of Haitians still live in turmoil after the January 12 earthquake, and there exists a great deal of uncertainty concerning the billions pledged for its reconstruction. Each team’s objective was to witness the electoral process unfold in a number of targeted polling stations in the cities of Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, and Gros Morne, and to document any irregularities. We witnessed widespread disorganization, as the ma

Originally posted on: The Trinidad and Tobago Review Posted on: December 3rd, 2010 Original link: http://www.tntreview.com/?s=kevin+edmonds&x=18&y=15&=Go Shame on CARICOM: Abandoning Haiti in a Time of Crisis By: Kevin Edmonds Trinidad and Tobago Review December 3rd, 2010 A police officer pushes voters against a wall covered with posters depicting presidential candidate Jude Celestin during general elections in Port-au-Prince last week. —Photo: AP On Sunday evening, the international community was confronted with the epic failure of the Haitian elections under allegations of widespread fraud and voting irregularities. That same evening, Eduard Mulet, the head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti expressed “their deep concern at the numerous incidents that marred the elections.” The next day however, the first instances of backtracking and damage control began to trickle out through the release of a joint statement by CARICOM and the Orga

Originally posted on: The Toronto Star Posted on: Original link: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/899382--don-t-blame-haitians-for-election-fiasco Don't Blame Haitians for Election Fiasco By: Roger Annis and Kevin Edmonds The Toronto Star December 1st, 2010 A child holds an unmarked ballot, one of thousand left on the floor of a polling station in Port-au-Prince. Ramon Espinosa/AP Roger Annis and Kevin Edmonds

Originally Posted on: Rabble.ca Posted on: November 28th, 2010 Original link: http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/11/haiti-un-and-cholera-election-day Haiti, the UN and cholera on election day By: Kevin Edmonds Rabble.ca November 28th, 2010 My third day in Haiti, walking down Avenue John Brown in the center of Port-au-Prince I was confronted point blank with the desperation of the cholera situation. On the side of the road, a shirtless man with brown pants and no shoes lay on the sidewalk outside a busy market entrance -- eyes open, with his arm in the gutter and flies buzzing around his face. He was dead. A couple photographers quickly snapped photos and jumped back into their vehicles as the ambulance crew arrived to pick up the body. He was another victim of an outbreak which will only kill the poor and the vulnerable -- which unfortunately makes Haiti a deadly conductor for the spread of the disease. Despite denials by the United Nations and the Nepalese army, the cholera ou

Originally posted to: Rabble.ca Posted on: November 27th, 2010 Original link: http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/11/canada-backing-deeply-flawed-election-haiti Canada is backing a deeply flawed election in Haiti By: Kevin Edmonds & Roger Annis Rabble.ca November 27th, 2010 The Haitian people were told several months ago by their president and partisan electoral commission that the country would go to the polls on Nov. 28 to elect a new president, legislature and partial senate representation. This event has many Haitians and international observers speaking out against it, and not only because of the deteriorating humanitarian calamity in the country. Months before the terrible cholera outbreak struck, the country's largest and most representative political party, the Fanmi Lavalas of exiled, former President Jean Bertrand Aristide , was ruled off the ballot by the Provisional Electoral Commission. Imagine the holding of an election in Canada in which Elections Canada decl

A statue of Henri Christophe, one of Haiti’s revolutionary leaders, surrounded by the Champ de Mars camp. Supporting a Sham: The International Community and Haiti's Elections By: Kevin Edmonds The Straight November 26, 2010 The normally bustling streets of Port-au-Prince are unnaturally quiet and tense today (November 26), as if the people are preparing in advance for the arrival of a storm. The upcoming elections in Haiti on Sunday (November 28) hold the potential to push Haiti over the edge, adding political fuel to the multiple crises the nation is already facing. Despite this, the international community has committed to supporting and spending millions on an election which has been widely criticized—both within Haiti and abroad—as illegitimate due pervasive allegations of fraud and the unconstitutional exclusion of 14 political parties. The winner of the election will be responsible for the colossal task of rebuilding the nation’s shattered infrastructure and

Originally posted on: The Fresh Outlook Posted on: November 24th, 2010 Original link: http://www.thefreshoutlook.com/index.php?action=newspaper&subaction=article&toDo=show&postID=3455 MINUSTAH: Obstacle to Democracy in Haiti By: Nicole Phillips and Kevin Edmonds The Fresh Outlook November 24th, 2010 Nicole Phillips, Staff Attorney at the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and Assistant Director for Haiti Programs at the University of San Francisco School of Law, and Kevin Edmonds, freelance journalist, write about UN peace keeping force, MINUSTAH's involvement in the forthcoming Haiti elections. Haiti’s elections planned for November 28, could aggravate the country’s tragedies and inequalities that were brought to the world’s attention after the January 12 earthquake. Highly politicized authorities have illegally excluded all the candidates from the country’s most popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas, and other progressive candidates. Haitians know

Originally posted to: The Stabroek News (Guyana) Posted on: November 22nd, 2010 Original Link: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/features/11/22/complexities-and-contradictions-caricom-and-haitian-elections/#disqus_thread Complexities and Contradictions: CARICOM and Haitian Elections By: Kevin Edmonds The upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Haiti on November 28th highlight the complexities and difficulties of intergovernmental organizations which seek to chart foreign policy positions outside of the umbrella of American regional power and influence. CARICOM, rightfully respected for both its previous advocacy and solidarity with Haitian people and their right to self determination following the devastating January 12th earthquake, and their opposition to the 2004 coup of Jean Bertrand Aristide, has since fallen in line with the international community on the question of the 2010 Haitian elections. What remains to be seen is whether or not this endorsement will

I helped as a research assistant on this project titled "Haiti’s November 28 Elections: Efforts to Legitimize the Illegitimate" for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. It did have an impact on the way the election was covered in the media, however - the international communtiy did not take it's content into consideration and continued to support and fund deeply flawed elections which will have repercussions for years to come. You can read the report here: http://ijdh.org/archives/15456

Haiti was only accepted back into CARICOM in 2006, following the election of President Rene Preval in February of that year. By Kevin Edmonds and Roger Annis ONTARIO, Canada, Monday November 15, 2010 - In a troubling abandonment of its moral high ground on matters of Haiti, the organization representing the governments of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, has bought into the flawed national election to take place in Haiti on November 28. CARICOM will join with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union as official observers. The decision effectively sanctions an electoral process that has excluded 14 political parties from participating, including Haiti’s largest, Fanmi Lavalas of exiled, former President Jean Bertrand Aristide. In addition, the current electoral conditions will not have the required facilities and voter registration in place to guarantee a fair and inclusive vote. The co