Clinton Calls For Haiti To Resolve Election Dispute

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday “warned Haiti its foreign aid is being imperiled by political stalemate following disputed elections, spelling more trouble for a nation struggling to recover from a huge earthquake and cholera epidemic,” Agence France-Presse reports.

There’s “a growing frustration … that as we’re approaching the one-year anniversary of the Haitian earthquake that there hasn’t been the kind of coordinated, coherent response from the government of Haiti that is called for,” Clinton said. She noted Senator Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.) call to freeze U.S. aid to Haiti and said this sentiment sends a “very strong signal that we expect more and we’re looking for more.”

“President Rene Preval, who has served his maximum two terms, is accused of rigging the November 28 polls in favor of a handpicked successor, 48-year-old ruling party candidate Jude Celestin,” AFP writes of the controversy surrounding Haiti’s elections. “Clinton’s call represented the strongest indication yet that the international community, which has pledged 10 billion dollars to help Haiti stand on its feet again after the quake, is losing patience,” the news service adds (Gully, 12/13).

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