CONGRESSWOMAN WATERS DENOUNCES ATTEMPTS TO STEAL THE ELECTIONS IN HAITI

Washington, D.C. - Today, on Capitol Hill, Rep. Maxine Waters
(CA-35) released a statement on the elections in Haiti. The elections took
place on Tuesday, February 7, but the results have yet to be announced. The
Congresswoman's statement follows:

The obvious attempts to steal the elections in Haiti
are blatant and shameful. It is absolutely outrageous that the President
Aristide-haters, the anti-Lavalas elites, and the United States Government
would so openly and blatantly steal these elections.

The international community is witnessing yet
another blow against the Haitian people by the same forces that forced
President Aristide out of Haiti, the same forces who are responsible for all
of the chaos and destabilization of this small country. How much more can
the Haitian people take?

The anti-Aristide forces have done everything in
their power to imprison the leaders of the Lavalas Party and deny Lavalas
leaders their right to run for office and their right to voice their
opposition to the Group of 184, the Provisional Electoral Council, the
puppet government, the International Republican Institute, and others who
are determined to undermine democracy in Haiti. President Bush must accept
responsibility for the ongoing violence, the chaos, and the blatant attempts
to steal these elections.

Early results showed an overwhelming victory for
Rene Preval. Many polling stations posted their results the day after the
elections, and Preval won between 60% and 90% of the vote in all of these
polling stations. Last Thursday, the Provisional Electoral Council was
reporting that Preval had 61.5% of the votes counted thus far.

Since that time, 125,000 ballots or 7.5% of the
votes cast were declared invalid by the CEP because of alleged
irregularities. Another 4% of the ballots were allegedly blank but
nevertheless included in the vote count, thereby making it more difficult
for Preval to exceed 50%.

No one in their right mind could possibly believe
that Rene Preval's lead plunged so quickly below the 50% required to avoid a
runoff. What are the people of Haiti to do?

Who in the international community will step forward
and speak up against the obvious power-grab perpetrated on a nearly
defenseless people?

I am totally disgusted with my own government and
the role it played in this entire fiasco. Is their no shame? Is their no
compassion? Is their no decency?

I cannot believe the audacity of the United Nations
and others to tell the Haitian people that they should not resist oppression
and demand respect. The Haitian people have suffered greatly at the hands
of the United States, France and Canada, powerful nations who preach
democracy and yet orchestrated the removal of the democratically-elected
president of Haiti and drove him from his own country.

Is their no shame in the fact that the United States
installed the puppet Prime Minister Gerard Latortue from Boca Raton,
Florida, who proceeded to jail former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune on
frivolous charges and jailed other Lavalas leaders like former Interior
Minister Jocelerme Privert, Haitian singer Anne Auguste and Father Gerard
Jean-Juste without cause? Is their no shame in the fact that the United
States allowed Roger Noriega to conspire with Andy Apaid and the Group of
184 to manipulate Haitian students in cooperation with the Haitian elites in
an attempt to grab control of that country for their own purposes?

Haven't the Haitian people suffered enough? The
man-made terror and violence coupled with natural disasters that have been
inflicted upon the people of Haiti will be recorded in history as
catastrophic events that caused tremendous loss of life and an unbearable
and tragic existence for the Haitian people.

After all of this suffering, is the United States
really prepared to stand by and deny the poorest of people who persevered on
election day, walked for miles, and waited for hours for the right to elect
persons of their choice? If so, then the President of the United States
does not deserve to use the word "democracy," for he neither respects nor
supports it, but simply promotes the rhetoric of democracy to his own
advantage.

I stand with the people of Haiti. I stand with the
Lavalas Party. I stand with Rene Preval and his Party of Hope. I stand
with President Aristide. I stand for justice, equality and democracy. And
I challenge the United States, France and Canada to correct their
destructive behavior and give democracy a chance.

Rene Preval is obviously the elected president of
Haiti. He received considerably more than 50% of the vote, and he must be
granted the right to serve without further interference, obstacles or
violence.