Haiti Report for September 10, 2007

Haiti Report for September 28, 2007

The Haiti Report is a summary compilation of events as described in Haiti and international media prepared by Konbit Pou Ayiti/KONPAY. It does not reflect the opinions of any individual or organization. This service is intended to create a better understanding of the situation in Haiti by presenting the reader with reports that provide a variety of perspectives on the situation. To make a donation to support this service: Konbit Pou Ayiti, 7 Wall Street, Gloucester, MA, 01930 or visit our website: www.konpay.org 

IN THIS REPORT:
- President Preval Says Haiti No Longer a Failed State
- Prime Minister Alexis Says Haiti Creating Environment for Investors
- President Preval Supports Independent Committee Investigation for Unsolved Journalist Murders
- Brazil’s Top Diplomat Says Haiti’s Security Climate Requires Development
– Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier Issues Apology; Preval Says Court will Try to Recover Stolen Millions
- US Embassy Bars Personnel from Flying Caribintair, a Domestic Airline Grounded in Haiti
- Dominican Republic Deploys New Force to Protect Border
- Former Prime Minister Latortue Speaks Out on Behalf of Dominican Republic
- Corruption Investigation Leads to Mixed Reactions

President Preval Says Haiti No Longer a Failed State:
Haitian President Rene Preval told the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday the Caribbean country is on its way to escaping the stigma of being labeled a failed state because of its recent economic and security gains. Mr. Preval got a show of political support from senior U.S., European and Latin American diplomats on the sidelines of the U.N. debate. Haiti has been the beneficiary of massive international aid, and the support of a U.N. peacekeeping mission, since the explosion of political unrest in the country in 2004. And President Preval told the General Assembly the outside assistance, and the improved security provided by the U.N. mission, MINUSTAH, are helping the country turn the corner toward political peace and economic recovery.

Delivering his country’s policy speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Mr. Preval said Haiti has all too often been on the U.N.’s agenda because of chronic problems. But, heard through an interpreter, he said the unwelcome characterization of the country as a failed state no longer applies: ”Haiti is on the way to bidding farewell to that state slowly, patiently, but with determination,” said Rene Preval. “Organized armed gangs who are responsible for violence directed against innocent populations have been dismantled. And there is no longer any no-go zone for peaceful citizens in any area of our territory. The governance of our economy has greatly improved. The money printer was put away, and this has reduced inflation below the 10 percent line, which had been rampant for a number of years, and just a few months ago had reached the dizzying heights of 40 percent.” Mr. Preval said that real growth has returned to the Haitian economy after more than 10 years of decline in the gross national product, and that his government has patiently worked to restore a climate of peace in the country’s turbulent political life.

He said Haitians consider foreign troops on their country’s soil as a wound to their national sovereignty. But he said, in practical terms, the presence of MINUSTAH – as the country’s new security forces take shape – is the only realistic formula available enabling Haitians to restore freedom and peace. The mandate of the Brazilian-led 7,100 – member U.N. force is due to expire in mid-October, but U.N. officials say another one-year extension by the Security Council appears certain. Before his U.N. address, Mr. Preval attended a meeting of an informal support group for Haiti that included diplomats from the United States, the European Union, the Organization of American States and the U.N. Appearing with the Haitian president after the meeting, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said the Preval government is responsible for the strides of recent months and deserves continued American and other international support: “The point of this meeting, the third we have had in the last three years, is to show support for President Preval, to show support for the government of Haiti, to show support for extraordinary progress that Haiti is making under his leadership in terms of renewed stability,” said Nicholas Burns. “And if you’ve been to Cite Soleil and Port-au-Prince, you see that – the fight against corruption, the fight against narcotics and the drug problem. And the importance of MINUSTAH, the United Nations military force remaining in Haiti for another year, the United States supports that for a one-year renewal.” Burns said the United States is providing Haiti with more than $200 million in economic and security aid this year, on top of the $600 million given since the 2004 upheaval that drove controversial former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power.  (VOA, 9/26)

Prime Minister Alexis Says Haiti Creating Environment for Investors:
A primary goal of the Haitian Government is to create an environment conducive for investors to come in and boost its struggling economy, according to Haiti’s Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. Addressing the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce 17-member delegation at his office in the capital on Monday, Alexis said that through revised laws, Haiti is trying to create the right incentives to attract investors. The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce is on a five-day mission to examine ways to form trade ties with The Bahamas through the Haiti Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Haiti is categorised as the poorest nation in the Caribbean. With a population of about 8.5 million its per capita income is stated at $400 or $5,300 per annum. ”We need to progress with the improvement of the living conditions of the vast majority of the people,” the prime minister said. “We need to put the accent on the issue of investments.” Elected to office last February, prime minister Alexis spoke on how “stability” in Haiti has come about. ”This is the result of mobilisation by the Haitian people as a whole, because at the February 2006 general elections, there was absolutely no ambiguity about the vote, given though at some point (they) tried to steal the results of it,” the prime minister said.

He added that it was difficult in the first phase because the problem Haiti had at the political level with peace, adding that it wasn’t only the question of a departure of its former President Aristide, but also of the fact that the majority of Haitian people wanted to see things changing in this country. Prime Minister Alexis said that the first approach was to end the distrust through dialogue with Haitians involved in violence and called on the national police to restore order in the country. ”This is how we could establish this new situation of security,” he said, adding that the situation is still a fragile one because the core of the problem is the social and economic instability. His Excellency Dr. Eugene Newry, the Bahamas Ambassador to Haiti, said that there are two goals to the proposed arrangement: Haitian products shipped directly to The Bahamas and which projects Bahamian investors can realise in Haiti. The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce said some members of the delegation, after having met with business persons and toured establishments of interests, still have doubts as to whether any sustained trade arrangement could be derived at. Philip Simon, executive director of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, pointed to the importance of factors such as opportunities being identified, current investments coming in, business facilitation measures being expedited and bureaucracies being removed.

Chamber president, Dioni-sio D’Aguillar said based on what the group has seen so far, and the stability of the Haitian Government, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce is ready to do business. ”We have looked to the north now we have to look to the south. We are excited by what we see and it seems as if possibilities are endless,” D’Aguillar said Prime Minister Alexis said that his job is to create conditions for men and women in Haiti to become interested in agriculture. In comparison to other Caribbean countries, he noted that Haiti is still a virgin country in terms of business development ”With improvement of the situation at the political level and with initiatives undertaken by His Excellency Rene Preval in terms of building solidarity in the state I think that the conditions are being created to produce wealth and also to better distribute the fruits of this wealth,” the Prime Minister said. He acknowledged Bahamians’ love for mangoes and called on both countries to work together to remove the restrictions to ensure that this produce is shipped directly to The Bahamas. ”In terms of food and agriculture production, there are a lot of economic possibilities, Prime Minister Alexis said. “We can even develop products aimed for The Bahamas; years ago we had a pretty fruitful trade between the northwest of Haiti and The Bahamas. There is the potential that exists.” He regarded The Bahamas as “champions” in the tourism industry and that Haiti needs to import that service in addition to cultural and religious tourism, construction, financial services and other areas.  (Freeport News, 9/27)

President Preval Supports Independent Committee Investigation for Unsolved Journalist Murders:
Haitian President René Préval has pledged support for an independent committee evaluating stalled investigations into a series of unsolved journalist murders this decade and said that all political obstacles to justice have now been removed. Meeting with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday, Préval expressed his “full support” for the committee and said that the Haitian government “wants justice to prevail.” Préval is in New York to participate in the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. ”We welcome President Préval’s will and commitment in pursuing justice in crimes against the press,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Without political impediments, the Haitian government must now push strongly for exhaustive investigations in the cases of murdered journalists. Haiti must break the cycle of impunity so that faith can be restored to the country’s judicial system.”

CPJ officials and Préval examined press freedom conditions in Haiti during the meeting, and they talked about the future of the recently created independent committee of journalists that is reviewing the progress of official investigations into the unsolved murders of journalists in Haiti from 2000 to 2007. Préval is in his second year in office following the ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and a tumultuous interim administration. ”Haitian politicians and investigators had not been interested in pursuing justice in cases of murdered journalists because some of them were implicated in these crimes,” Préval told CPJ through an interpreter. “But now the situation has changed; there is political will and this will allow us to make progress.” The CPJ delegation included Simon, CPJ board member Franz Allina, and CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría.

Préval acknowledged that there will be difficulties in bringing justice, especially in the oldest cases. But the president said that the independent committee is a “signal that will permit us to resolve some crimes.” Préval said that “freedom of the press is essential for the development of a democracy.

The Haitian president noted that the climate of violence that had plagued Haiti since 2000 has eased. “There is a different atmosphere now, and the press can work in a relatively free environment,” Préval said. According to CPJ research, attacks on Haiti’s press dropped significantly in the last two years. The CPJ delegation called on Préval to support efforts to strengthen the work of the independent committee, and it urged the government to provide police, judges, and prosecutors with the resources to do their jobs. CPJ also requested Préval renew the mandate of Judge Bernard Saint-Vil, who is responsible for the investigation into the murder of Spanish correspondent Ricardo Ortega, who was shot twice when gunmen opened fire on demonstrators in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in April 2004.

The independent committee was a joint initiative between Préval and the local press freedom group S.O.S. Journalistes. The committee has access to official police and court documents on the murders of at least 10 journalists. It is studying the case files one by one in order to determine where and why they have stalled. The committee is led by journalist and free press activist Joseph Guyler Delva, president of S.O.S. Journalistes. It includes reporters Euvrard Saint-Armand from Radio Caraïbes; Anne Marguerite Auguste from Radio Solidarité; Dieudonne Saincy from Radio Métropole; Jean Wilmer Morin from local radio station Tropic FM and the television station Télémac; Louis Gary Cyprien from the daily Le Nouvelliste; Marie Nick Marcelin from Radio Ibo; and Idson Saint-Fleur from radio station Signal FM.

“Progress has already been made,” Préval said. The president cited recent convictions in the case of Jacques Roche, cultural editor with the Port-au-Prince-based daily Le Matin, who was killed in Haiti’s capital in July 2005. On August 30, a judge in Port-au-Prince sentenced Alby Joseph and Chéry Beaubrun, members of the local Solino gang, to life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of Roche. “This is a step forward,” noted the president. The committee has sought to identify concrete problems in the investigations and expedite solutions. In one case, for example, the committee discovered a vital “missing” courthouse file in the 2001 slaying of Brignol Lindor and forwarded it to the investigators actually handling the case. Delva said the committee will next examine the case of Haitian journalist Jean-Léopold Dominique, owner and director of Radio Haïti-Inter and one of the country’s most renowned journalists. Dominique was gunned down on April 3, 2000, outside the entrance to his Port-au-Prince station. A long-stalled case that has been characterized by incompetence and a lack of political will, Dominique’s slaying remains unpunished, CPJ research shows. Three journalists have been murdered in direct reprisal for their work in Haiti since 2000, CPJ research shows. CPJ is investigating the circumstances surrounding the slayings of the other journalists. (Committee to Protect Journalists, 9/27)

Brazil’s Top Diplomat Says Haiti’s Security Climate Requires Development:
Haiti’s improved security climate will not last unless wealthier countries ramp up efforts to bring development to the deeply impoverished country, Brazil’s top diplomat said Friday. During a one-day visit to the country, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said the 8,800-strong U.N. peacekeeping force led by Brazil has made major strides in restoring calm and reducing gang violence that had plagued the country since a 2004 revolt toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. ”But of course it’s not perfect, far from it. That’s why we need the continued commitment of the international community,” Amorim told The Associated Press as he toured Port-au-Prince’s seaside Cite Soleil slum under guard from heavily armed Brazilian soldiers and bodyguards. Amorim noted that on past trips to Haiti it had been too dangerous for him to visit the teeming, fetid slum, which only a year ago was awash in violence from daily gunbattles between armed gangs and blue-helmeted peacekeepers.

A U.N. crackdown on gangs launched late last year has led to a sharp reduction in shootings, bringing Cite Soleil’s most peaceful period in years. Still, many slum dwellers live in squalor and are in desperate need of jobs, hospitals and schools, a point Amorim said he would urge the U.N. Security Council to consider when the vote to extend the peacekeeping mandate next month. ”The security situation will only be assured once Haiti goes into a path of development,” he said. Amorim would not say when Brazil would begin to withdraw its peacekeepers, although U.N. officials have said troops will likely be needed at least until President Rene Preval finishes his term in 2011. ”It’s very difficult to make a forecast … but we will be here for the next year,” Amorim said. He added that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was considering a visit to Haiti later this year, and that the Brazilian leader may discuss Haiti during a planned meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush during next week’s gathering of the U.N. General Assembly. (AP, 9/21)

Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier Issues Apology; Preval Says Court will Try to Recover Stolen Millions:
Exiled dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier apologized for “wrongs” committed under his rule and urged supporters to rally around his fringe political party during a rare address delivered on Haitian radio over the weekend. The comments marked Duvalier’s first public address in years and come amid a quiet campaign by his supporters to see their leader returned from exile in France. In a speech recorded from Paris, Duvalier said history will be the judge of his 15-year dictatorship, which is widely blamed for killing and torturing opponents and pilfering the national treasury. ”If, during my presidential mandate, the government caused any physical, moral, or economic wrongs to others, I solemnly take the historical responsibility … to request forgiveness from the people and ask for the impartial judgment of history,” Duvalier said. Duvalier’s regime came to an abrupt end on Feb. 7, 1986 when he fled the country during a popular uprising, and he’s been notably quiet during his years in exile.
   
Bobby Duval, a former soccer star who was starved and tortured while locked up for 17 months under the Duvalier regime for speaking out against human rights abuses, said it was the first time he could recall the former dictator apologizing for his regime’s atrocities — but said it did not go far enough. ”He killed thousands of people, stole money and destroyed the psyche and heart of a people. This guy should be in jail and I’m just waiting for him to come back so that can happen,” said Duval, who now runs a sports outreach program. “I don’t accept his apology.”  In the radio address, broadcast across the country on Saturday and Sunday, Duvalier described himself as “broken by 20 years of exile” but ”reinvigorated” by what he claimed was growing support among younger Haitians for his small National Unity Party. ”The watchword is already launched, the instruction is given. Militants
and militant sympathizers of the National Unity Party be ready. We live … in waiting of the revival,” Duvalier said. He did not say if he if would seek to return to his homeland. In recent months, a handful of loyalists have been campaigning to bring Duvalier home from exile, launching a foundation to improve the dictatorship’s image and reviving his political party in the hope that he could one day return to power democratically.  Duvalier’s party has no seats in parliament, and political observers say it has little chance of becoming a force in Haiti.  (AP, 9/24)

Haitian President Rene Preval on Tuesday rejected an apology from former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and said the government would ask a court to recover millions in state funds allegedly stolen during the 15-year regime. Preval, speaking before leaving for the U.N. General Assembly in New York, said Duvalier’s surprise apology for past abuses was welcome but inadequate. ”An apology is one thing, justice is another thing,” Preval, a former anti-Duvalier activist who was elected president last year, told reporters. ”It will be up for the Haitian people to decide if there will be
forgiveness.” Preval said his government had asked Swiss authorities to freeze Duvalier-linked bank accounts containing 7.6 million Swiss francs ($6.3 million) — money many Haitians believe was stolen from public funds. Duvalier has denied illegally taking money and the Swiss government has said the funds would remain frozen for at least another year. The president said his administration is preparing a case to “recuperate the funds,” without providing details. (AP, 9/25)

Several politicians and human rights activists said Duvalier should be tried for atrocities. ”It is unacceptable that Duvalier is trying to make a comeback as if the population had to forget the awful crimes he had committed in this country,” said human rights activist Jean-Claude Bajeux. “The Haitian people won’t buy that.” The leader of the Fusion party, Victor Benoit, said Duvalier has a right to return if he agrees to face justice. ”Jean-Claude Duvalier is talking about national reconciliation, but that is exactly what his father was saying while preparing to massacre scores of innocent citizens,” Benoit said. “And the same atrocities continued under his son, who is presenting himself as the country’s next savior.” But others said Haiti was more secure during the Duvaliers’ reign. “Under the Duvaliers, you could sleep in the streets or on the gallery of your house if you were not fighting the government,” said Joanel Jean-Jacques, a 64-year-old man sitting outside his home in the Delmas district. ”My family and I felt secure and we were working and peacefully
earning our life,” he said. “Now the majority of the population can’t even eat once a day.” (Reuters, 9/25)

US Embassy Bars Personnel from Flying Caribintair, a Domestic Airline Grounded in Haiti:
The U.S. Embassy has barred its personnel from flying Haiti’s largest domestic airline and urged Americans to avoid the carrier pending an investigation into two emergency landings two weeks apart, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Haiti’s civil aviation agency grounded all Caribintair fights earlier this month after two of its single-engine Cessna Caravan planes were forced to make hard landings minutes after taking off from Port-au-Prince on Aug. 31 and Sept. 11. Five people were injured in the second incident. The agency said last week that Caribintair was not at fault in either case, but no official cause for the emergency landings has been given and the airline is still waiting for approval to resume flying. All U.S. Embassy staff will be prohibited from using the carrier pending the investigation, said embassy spokeswoman Shaila B. Manyam.  “Because of that decision, we are legally obligated to inform the American public (about using the airline) via an advisory,” Manyam said. A Caribintair spokesman declined to comment. Previously, the company has said its planes are properly maintained. Caribintair operates more than 30 flights daily to seven destinations in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic. (AP, 9/25)

Dominican Republic Deploys New Force to Protect Border:
The Dominican Republic has deployed a new 500-member force on its porous border with Haiti in an effort to stop the illegal trafficking of people and drugs, military officials said. Plans were announced in 2005 for the special force to patrol the countries’ 225-mile border on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, but delays in training and finding qualified personnel held up its deployment. Officials hope to add an additional 1,500 military, customs,
intelligence and anti-drug agents to the Specialized Border Security Corps, or Cesfront, Armed Forces Secretary Gen. Ramon Aquino Garcia said Tuesday in a statement. Previously, border patrol duties fell to the army. The U.S. military contributed training and some $350,000 worth of scanning equipment to Cesfront under an agreement signed earlier this year. (AP, 9/25)

Former Prime Minister Latortue Speaks Out on Behalf of Dominican Republic:
Haiti’s former Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has spoken out against what he called an international campaign to discredit the DR, which includes false claims about Haitian immigrants supposedly living in conditions of slavery in the DR, as reported in El Nacional. ”We will not allow people with bad intentions to attempt to sabotage the excellent relations between our two countries,” said Latortue, who was taking part in a conference organized by the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy, also attended by President Leonel Fernandez on Monday as part of his US tour. “These people have not caught on that times have changed and you can’t talk about a future for Haiti but rather of a future for both countries. I know President Fernandez and know he loves Haiti and wants to see its problems resolved,” he added. Latortue, who served as prime minister from 12 March 2004 to 9 June 2006, explained that, “decisive international cooperation is needed to create more jobs in Haiti and so keep Haitians in their own country. When that happens, Haitian tourists will visit the DR, not immigrants looking for work.” During the same conference, a journalist asked President Leonel Fernandez to comment on Haitian migration to the DR. He turned the question over to Latortue who responded that could be expected when on the same island you had a growth rate of 6-8% and another of 0%.

Latortue expressed confidence in the good relationship between President Fernandez and President Rene Preval, saying that this would be decisive in pushing ahead agreements to secure international cooperation for the development of the island. Since the start of the year, films highlighting supposed slavery-like conditions experienced by Haitian workers in the DR have been shown in major cities abroad. The DR government has denied that Haitian workers are smuggled into the country to work in the cane fields, and says that of the estimated one million Haitian migrants in the DR, less than 1% works in the sugar industry. According to a World Bank funded study carried out by Inter-American Dialogue and released yesterday, Haiti’s economy depends on remittances, and US$200-US$300 million come from the DR each year. The study shows that 76% of the Haitians who live in the DR visit Haiti at least once a year, staying for a week to two months. (DRNews, 9/19)

Corruption Investigation Leads to Mixed Reactions:
On July 31, deputies meeting in an extraordinary session of the Lower House voted to censure Haiti’s Minister of Culture and Communications Daniel Elie. Sixty-seven deputies voted for his dismissal, five voted against, and 14 others abstained. The minister was accused of all kinds of wrong-doing, including the unauthorized spending of 30 million gourdes ($841,500 US) from his ministry’s budget, set by the Parliament, for Flag Day celebrations and bad management of some 80 million gourdes ($2,243,900 US) which were allocated to him to organize the 2007 carnival. (Elie also had in his cabinet Magalie Comeau, the ex-minister of the Culture and Communications of the de facto government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.) Elie vehemently denied the accusations made against him during the heated session. Although censured, before his Aug. 9 resignation Elie requested in letters to Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis and President Rene Preval Aug. 3 an official investigation into the charges made against him. Preval and Alexis responded to the request favorably and quickly. In a state administration where inquiries can take years, this investigation was undertaken almost immediately. The High Court of Accounts of Administrative Disputes (CSCCA) and the Unit to Fight against Corruption (ULCC) headed by Amos Durosier (see Haiti Liberte, Vol. 1, No. 5, 8/22/07) were both quickly mobilized, and, to surprise of many, both issued their findings this past week.

According to CSCCA, “the verification did not reveal any major irregularity which could be described as embezzlement, diversion or theft which could be blamed on the director.” Meanwhile, the ULCC concluded that “within the framework of this investigation, in the light of the provisions of Articles 137 and following of the Haitian Penal Code suppressing corruption, and of Articles 6 and 9 of Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the facts reported by the people met within the framework of the investigation do not amount to corruption on the part of Mr. Daniel Elie.” In addition, the ULCC found that “as for other expenditures, the verification of supporting documents and of documentation available to the Ministry did not allow us to detect any acceptance of offers or promises, nor receipt of gifts or presents, by the Minister or by any member of his administration to do something beyond their job description.” Pleased at the speed with which these two fiscal entities carried out their investigations, the president immediately wrote a letter to the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Pierre Eric Jean Jacques, reproaching him for allowing his parliamentary colleagues to carry out intrigues which do not help in running the country, because their baseless accusations can be fatal and result in “honest, qualified and serious citizens refusing to give service to their country, having been convinced that the State is run by ill-willed and mediocre people.” Preval wrote that “politics is an art of great nobility. We must in practice act as nobly. The struggle I have led, in my role as President of the Republic, is to fight to restore respect and dignity to the civil servant from our fellow citizens first and then from the world.” Preval continued: “That requires that each civil servant be extremely demanding of himself, because the law will not be lenient on him… That also requires that the rights of those who go into public service be respected and that the State itself ensures each of its servants has good protection when unwarranted and absurd actions or attacks go after the person or integrity of this servant.”

The president also sent a letter to Elie saying that “you can now leave light-hearted, with the satisfaction of having carried out the functions of your Ministry with dedication, competence and integrity. For my part, I reiterate my thanks to you for having agreed to be part of the Cabinet and for proving yourself to be up to the trust that the Prime Minister and I had placed in you.” These two letters of the president outraged certain parliamentarians. Jean Salibar (Fusion of the social democrats),”President Rene Preval did not read the report, or at the very least he has been led into error,” said deputy Poly Faustin of the Lavalas Family party. According to deputy Laurore Edouard of the Union party, “the letter of the Head of State is in contradiction with the report of the ULCC.” Meanwhile, Cite Soleil’s deputy Jean Salibar of the social-democratic Fusion party asked: “How can one ask a minister whose management is filled with irregularities to leave light hearted? “ He then added that “the Head of State’s position will undermine his fight against corruption.”

Who is right and who is wrong in this case? The Parliament or the Executive? There are indeed troubling revelations in the ULCC report which seem to contradict the report’s conclusion. For example, “a good number of expenditures carried out via Memoranda are not supported by justifying documents which should be in that file, that is 6 out of a total of 36 pieces.” Of these expenditures, one finds two cheques respectively for 784,000 and for 1,960,000 gourdes ($22,000 US and $55,000 US) made to the order of singer James Germain, where the kind of service provided is vague. The ULCC also notes certain other supporting documents do not conform. Two cheques for 5,276,736 and 5,496,600 gourdes ($148,000 US and $154,200 US) were issued to a certain Jean Claude Verdier without specifying the kind of service he provided. The report also mentions expenditures for which “not only was there no bidding, but the Ministry of Culture and Communications requested estimates from two suppliers who gave different quotes for a requested service. After receiving the bids, the Ministry gave the contract to the more expensive supplier, paying their asking price.” This situation risks making people lose any confidence they have in State institutions. This new confrontation between the Parliament and the executive has transformed the nation’s institutions into a kind of “house of glass” in every respect. (Haiti Libete, 9/26 – 10/2)