Haiti, Latin America: Week in Review
Haiti Delays Results For 19 Legislative Races, After U.N. and U.S. Question Results
April 26, 2011 By Staff
Haitian President-Elect Michel Martelly taking questions from the press. Photo by mediahacker.
Today in Latin America
Top Story — Haiti’s Electoral Council delayed certifying the results from 19 legislative races Monday, after the United States and the United Nations questioned several vote counts.
U.S. and U.N. officials asked the Haitian Electoral Council how the final results could have changed so drastically in 18 Chamber of Deputies races and one Senate election. The Council also withheld results from a second Senate race that the international community did not question, bringing the total number of uncertain contests to 19.
The changes between the preliminary results and the final ones favor the governing UNITY party, which would hold 46 of 99 Chamber of Deputies seats and 17 of 30 Senate seats if the Council certifies the current results.
Irregularities and instances of voter fraud marred both the first-round presidential election in November and the second-round presidential election held on March 20 — the same day as the legislative elections.
The Council said it would hold off on publishing the results “out of concern for transparency.”
Haitian President-elect Michel Martelly called for an independent investigation and asked the international community not to support the results.
Martelly’s party, Reypons Peysan, scored only three seats in the national legislature.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- Hundreds of immigration activists rallied across the state of Florida on Monday to protest two state immigration bills.
- Mexico’s antitrust commission confirmed that it fined the country’s biggest mobile phone operator around $1 billion because it allegedly used its market weight and interconnection fees to displace competitors.
- The U.S. State Department issued a revised travel warning for Mexico, advising citizens against travel in 11 Mexican states.
Caribbean
- U.S. Coast Guard crews repatriated 13 Cubans spotted in two boats off the South Florida coast back to Bahia de Cabanas.
- President-elect Michel Martelly called on Haitians in South Florida and elsewhere to help him rebuild their earthquake-ravaged country.
Central America
- More than 260 Hondurans under the age of 23 were killed in Honduras in the first quarter of 2011, according to Casa Alianza, a nongovernmental organization.
- This Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Costa Rica was the most deadly in recent years after 41 people died “violently”, leading the list are drownings and traffic accidents.
Andes
- Colombia’s president addressed the nation Monday night about torrential rains and massive floods that have claimed 91 lives so far this year.
- Bolivia assured U.S. Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. that it isn’t a target for nationalization while President Evo Morales rules the country.
Southern Cone
- The head of Amnesty International said Monday that human rights violations could increase in Brazil in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympics as Brazilians who live in favelas are displaced by construction projects.
- Prize-winning Chilean poet Gonzalo Rojas passed away Monday at age 93 two months after suffering a stroke, and will be buried in Chillan.
- An Argentine activist group called “Let’s Save Football” reported that there have been thirteen soccer-related deaths in Argentina just over a year.
- Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayas S.A. announced that it will purchase three Bombardier jets to expand its fleet.
Image: mediahacker @ Flickr.
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