LatinNews Daily - 8 October 2015

Haiti: On 6 October the US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Haiti and held a meeting with President Michel Martelly and other top Haitian government officials, including Prime Minister Evans Paul and Foreign Minister Lener Renauld. The main purpose of Kerry's visit was to express US hopes that the second round of Haiti's national legislative elections, and the concurrent first round presidential election, be held on 25 October as scheduled, and reiterate US commitment to supporting a peaceful electoral process. The 9 August first round of the legislative elections was marred by violent clashes at voting centres that left three people dead and forced the closure of 26 voting centres (of 1,508 nationwide), with political parties accusing each other of fraud and ballot-stuffing. In Port-au-Prince, Kerry said that violence and intimidation had no place in the electoral process and that free and fair elections were a necessary starting point for democratic governance and economic growth in Haiti. In a show of support for the Martelly government and the local electoral authorities, Kerry also rejected the possibility of establishing a transitional government, as demanded by some opposition figures, to oversee the elections. Kerry noted that President Martelly is barred from standing for election and congratulated the Martelly government for its efforts to proceed with the electoral process as planned. That same day, the new US ambassador to Haiti, Peter F. Mulrean, presented his credentials to President Martelly.

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