Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

firmed by a sharply divided legislature. In January 1999, Preval
dissolved parliament because the electoral terms for most officials
had expired, appointed municipal officials as "interim
executive agents" of the Ministry of Interior, and began to rule
by decree until elections could be held.
Complexities involved in setting up national elections
resulted in three postponements from the original November
1998 election date. To facilitate elections, the United States
provided $3.5 million in aid for voter registration and allocated
an additional $10-15 million toward the estimated election
cost of $18.5 million. Haiti contributed a further $9 million.
Haiti's sporadic violence, including shootings and other
political disturbances—and the resulting danger to United
States personnel—led Marine General Charles E. Wilhelm of
the United States Southern Command, in February 1999
closed-door testimony before a subcommittee of the House of
Representatives Appropriations Committee, to advocate the
withdrawal from Haiti of remaining United States troops.
These 500 military personnel, remnants of the 20,000-strong
force that went to Haiti during the international intervention
of September 1994, had assisted Haiti by providing medical
care to the populace, constructing schools, repairing wells, and
training police. The last United States forces permanently stationed
in Haiti left in February 2000, but periodic training visits
of United States military personnel, including the use of
armed forces reservists, continue.
A UN mission continues training the Haitian police force.
Haitian faith in the rule of law has been severely tested, however,
because of police abuses that are exacerbated by a dysfunctional
judiciary. Violence can reach alarming levels in
Haiti, as it did in the period preceding the May 2000 elections.
Human rights activists have pressured former president Aristide
to use his stature to denounce the use of violence. To date,
Aristide has been unwilling to follow such a course, preferring
to take steps behind the scenes as opposed to making public
statements.
In May 2000, Haiti held elections for 7,500 posts, including
the entire Chamber of Deputies and two-thirds of the Senate as
well as numerous municipal offices. Twenty-nine thousand candidates
from a wide spectrum of political parties and organizations
participated. Several hundred international observers
joined a well organized national network of several thousand
domestic observers. Voter turnout was at least 60 percent of the
xxv