Defiant Haiti Sets Vote, Wants OAS to Pay

In a bold display of hostility to the Organization of American States, Haiti’s army-installed leader Thursday announced presidential elections for Jan. 5 and the Senate demanded reparations for damage caused by an OAS economic embargo against the country.

Part of the boldness seemed to arise from a feeling of elation over the arrival of a Liberian-flagged tanker carrying more than 110,000 barrels of oil. The ship, which arrived via the Dutch-ruled island of Aruba, is the most significant known violation of the embargo.

Haitian business sources said the tanker, called the Nero, carried enough gasoline and diesel fuel to run the country for two weeks.

Provisional Prime Minister Jean-Jacques Honorat declared on state-controlled Radio Nationale that an electoral commission will be established and the presidential elections held Jan. 5. He was chosen by the military leaders who ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Sept. 30, precipitating the OAS embargo and demands that Aristide be restored to power.

Aristide was considered to be the first democratically elected president in the country’s history.

Aristide is in exile in Venezuela; OAS-sponsored talks between him and his Haitian opponents broke down last weekend. Anti-Aristide politicians here said that the politician cannot be a presidential candidate because, according to the Haitian constitution, a president cannot succeed himself.

In a resolution passed by the Haitian Senate late Thursday, legislators called for reparations to be paid by nations of the OAS. The resolution stated that it was aimed “particularly” at the United States, Mexico, Venezuela and Canada. It also mentioned France, which, while not a member of the OAS, has been very critical of the coup and the politicians blocking Aristide’s return.

Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere. The embargo has led to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs so far.