Dear Mr. Morrel, I received your article "Blind Aid to Haiti will be wasted" by e-mail. I agree with some of your views as you are indeed right on several points.

The legislative elections of May 2000 were definitely fraudulent. This was ascertained and officially recorded by the OAS mission. Mr. Leon Manus, the elderly President of the electoral Council at the time and a credible man, was forced to flee the country after refusing to sign the results of these elections, he has been granted asylum in the USA.

After other trick elections in November of 2000, Mr. Aristide took power and wasted no time in establishing a ferocious regime. The offices of most political parties were burned to the ground on December 17, 2001. The very same day, the political leaders were subjected to all sorts of harassment including the looting and burning of their homes. Several journalists worth their salt were threatened and had to leave Haiti to seek refuge in Canada, France and the United States. Others such as Brignol Lindor and Jean Dominique were summarily executed, the former in a most atrocious manner by a mob of Mr. Aristide’s thugs for hire. The investigation of these crimes has been stonewalled by the Government just like the FBI inquest into Mireille Durocher Bertin’s death. The judge in charge of the investigation on Dominique’s cold blooded assassination also had to flee the country to seek asylum in the US. Mr. Aristide established armed commandos whose modus operandi is to extort and terrorize the population. The flow of narcotics transiting through Haiti has never been higher and drug traffickers have never benefitted from more protection from a Haitian Government.

You affirm that the aid granted after Aristide’s reinstatement by American troops in 1994 was well managed and this is where I beg to differ with you. Mr. Morrel, the Haitian people’s sub-human condition has not improved by one iota. I believe you would be hard pressed to come up with a list of the projects completed by such aid. The United States spent three (3) billion dollars to return Mr. Aristide to power. I believe the US Government would also find it difficult to explain to the American people what the Haitian Government did with this money. It would be equally difficult for the American people to understand the reason for reinstating a President who had nothing but contempt for his country’s laws and Constitution back in 1991 and who had nothing but praise for the barbaric practice of necklacing. Even then, he was burning down opposition headquarters and systematically destroying all of his country’s institutions.

If you were to add the word "Now" after the word "Haiti"to the heading on your article it would sound even more real. It would indeed be irresponsible to entrust any kind of aid to such a reckless and corrupt Government. That would really be squandering the taxpayers’ money.

Haiti definitely needs help and we certainly hope it will be forthcoming as soon as our beloved country is headed by responsible men, concerned with the Haitian people’s well-being. Believe it or not, there are many dignified and qualified Haitians who could fill the role.

Cordially yours, Jean Baptiste A humble Haitian citizen