Haitian general election, 1987

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The 1987 Haitian general election took place on 29 November 1987, with a second round planned on 29 December. [1] In these elections voters would have to elect the President, 77 deputies and 27 senators.

Contents

Candidates

Among the candidates for President were: [1] [2] [3]

Leslie Manigat President of Haiti

Leslie François Saint Roc Manigat was a Haitian politician who was elected as President of Haiti in a tightly controlled military held election in January 1988. He served as President for only a few months, from February 1988 to June 1988, before being ousted by the military.

Rally of Progressive National Democrats

The Rally of Progressive National Democrats is a political party in Haiti.

The Unified Party of Haitian Communists was a political party in Haiti. PUCH was established in 1968 by the mergers the Popular Entente Party and the Party of Union of Haitian Democrats. The declaration of merger of the two parties stated: "PUCH is the conscious and organized vanguard of the working class, fighting under the banner of the Marxist-Leninist ideology. The path of the Haitian revolution, as defined in the documents of PUCH - is the path of armed struggle, which must be carried out in response to the reactionary violence". PUCH was a clandestine party from its foundation. The party initiated a lot of work for agrarian reform amongst the peasantry in the villages.

Two candidates were assassinated before the election: Louis Eugene Athis (Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Haiti) on 3 August, and Yves Volel (Christian Democratic Union) on 13 October. [4] On 2 November 1987, the National Electoral Council barred some presidential candidates because their support to the late Duvalier regime. Among the rejected candidates were Clovis Desinor (former Minister of Finance), Lieut. General Claude Raymond (former Chief of Staff) and other army officers and Cabinet ministers. [5] Other rejected candidates were Clemard Joseph Charles, Alphons Lahens, Hillaire Jean-Baptiste, Jean Julme, Edouard Francisque, Jean Theagene, Arthur Bonhomme, Herve Boyer and Franck Romain.

Yves Volel was a Haitian lawyer, activist, and presidential candidate. He was assassinated in 1987 while running for office. He was the leader of an offshoot of the Haitian Christian Democratic Party, led by Sylvio Claude, known as the Christian Democratic Rally.

Aftermath

The election was canceled only three hours after polls opened, because troops led by Service d'Intelligence National member Lt. Col. Jean-Claude Paul massacred 30 - 300 voters on election day. [6] Jimmy Carter later wrote that "Citizens who lined up to vote were mowed down by fusillades of terrorists' bullets. Military leaders, who had either orchestrated or condoned the murders, moved in to cancel the election and retain control of the Government." [7]

Service d'Intelligence National was a Haitian intelligence agency created by the US Central Intelligence Agency after the 1986 overthrow of Jean-Claude Duvalier, at the height of the Anti-Duvalier protest movement. The unit, staffed by officers of the Armed Forces of Haiti, "engaged in drug trafficking and political violence". The CIA provided half a million to a million dollars per year to train SIN in counter-narcotics, but the group produced no intelligence and instead used their training against political opponents.

Lt. Col. Jean-Claude Paul was a Haitian military officer alleged to have been involved in the illegal drug trade in Haiti. He was indicted by a Miami court on 10 March 1988 for allegedly trafficking cocaine.

Jimmy Carter 39th president of the United States

James Earl Carter Jr. is an American politician and philanthropist who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A Democrat, he previously served as a Georgia State senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. Carter has remained active in public life during his post-presidency, and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center.

The election was followed several months later by the Haitian general election, 1988, which was boycotted by almost all the previous candidates, and saw turnout of just 4%. [8]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "La miserable herencia de Ios Duvalier". El País (in Spanish). 29 November 1987. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  2. "Haiti presidential candidate profiles". 28 November 1987. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  3. J. Ray Kennedy,Ifes,Marta Maria Villaveces,Jeff Fischer (1991). "Republic of Haiti: Ifes Election Project, July 1990-April 1991, Final Report" . Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  4. "Asesinado en Haití un candidato a la presidencia". El País. 14 October 1987. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  5. "New Violence Erupts in Haiti As Election Council Bars". The New York Times. 4 November 1987. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  6. Whitney, Kathleen Marie (1996), "Sin, Fraph, and the CIA: U.S. Covert Action in Haiti", Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas, Vol. 3, Issue 2 (1996), pp. 303-332. p319
  7. Jimmy Carter, Carter Center, 1 October 1990, Haiti's Election Needs Help
  8. "Two months later, these generals conducted an election that was boycotted by almost all the previous candidates and in which fewer than 4 percent of the people voted; the victor was peremptorially removed when he dared to exert some independence as president." - Jimmy Carter, Carter Center, 1 October 1990, Haiti's Election Needs Help