Haiti Announces New Election Dates     10/30 06:20

   

   SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Haiti's government has announced new election 
dates as the armed gangs who terrorize the country continue to fight against 
Haitian police and soldiers, who are now backed by the recent arrival of more 
than 2,000 troops from El Salvador.

   The Provisional Electoral Council said late Wednesday that the first round 
of general elections will be held next July 18 and the second round on Oct. 4.

   Haiti has not held elections in more than a decade and is run by an 
unelected prime minister. The presidency has been vacant since President 
Jovenel Mose was killed in 2021.

   The council said it expects to publish the final candidate list, including 
those running for the presidency or the Senate, by mid-January, with May 20 
marking the end of voter registration. Among the presidential hopefuls are 
former presidents Michel Martelly, Claude Joseph and Jocelerme Privert, along 
with a former president of Haiti's Chamber of Deputies, Gary Bodeau, and Public 
Prosecutor Jean Ernest Muscadin. Martelly and Bodeau have been sanctioned by 
the U.S. following allegations of corruption, while Muscadin has been accused 
of summary executions of suspected criminals.

   Among those seeking to become mayor of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, is 
Samuel Joisil, leader of the civilian brigade of Canape-Vert, whose members 
include vigilantes known for successfully pushing back the violent gangs 
seeking to take over their community.

   The first round of elections was initially scheduled for Dec. 13, but was 
delayed by gang violence in Haiti's central region and in Port-au-Prince. Four 
aviation technicians from El Salvador working with a U.N.-backed gang 
suppression force went missing on Oct. 18 in the capital after coming under 
attack.

   In response, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent more than 2,000 troops 
to Haiti to help rescue the four technicians, who the Haitian government says 
were abducted.

   Scrutiny of Salvadoran troops in Haiti intensifies 

   El Salvador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Wednesday 
that Bukele had spoken with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime about 
the security operation to rescue the technicians.

   Meanwhile, Haiti's government issued a statement saying the two leaders are 
reinforcing cooperation within the framework of the U.N.-backed gang 
suppression force.

   Experts have questioned exactly what role the Salvadoran troops are playing 
in Haiti.

   Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative 
Against Transnational Organized Crime, said their rules of engagement, chain of 
command, objectives and duration "remain opaque." He questioned what kind of 
coordination they might have with the gang suppression force, Haitian police 
and Vectus Global, the private security firm founded by former U.S. Navy SEAL 
and Blackwater founder Erik Prince.

   "Are we witnessing yet another model of deployment, parallel to the 
multilateral framework? The role of the United States, which supported and 
facilitated this deployment, also deserves scrutiny," he said.

   Le Cour said the number of Salvadoran troops in Haiti will surpass that of 
personnel in the gang suppression force, raising questions about the future of 
the U.N.-backed force.

   "What does that mean for its authority, its coherence and its future?"

   He added: "the most basic question remains unanswered: why were the 
Salvadoran technicians in a gang-controlled neighborhood in the first place?"

   Bukele wrote on X Thursday that his country has "nearly finished" deploying 
soldiers and equipment to Haiti and only wants to bring home the four missing 
aviation technicians.

   "This is not an operation against the Haitian people, nor an invasion of the 
country of Haiti," he wrote in Haitian Creole. "We are not a great power. We 
have no interest in coming to dominate the Haitian people, nor in laying hands 
on Haiti's wealth."

   Outcry grows over deaths and injuries of civilians 

   Le Cour and others also raised concerns about the safety of Haitian 
civilians caught in a gun battle between Haitian gangs and the international 
forces.

   On Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders issued a statement calling on "the 
authorities and all parties involved to spare civilians and ensure access to 
health care facilities for all the wounded and sick, without distinction."

   The aid agency said it treated 30 patients injured by gunfire or drone 
explosions from Oct. 18-26, and that it took some of the wounded several hours 
to reach hospitals run by Doctors Without Borders.

   "Roads and bridges are blocked, and any travel is extremely risky," said 
Davina Hayles, Doctors Without Borders head of mission in Haiti. "In a capital 
city where the health care system has collapsed and many facilities are closed, 
it is essential to ensure there is access to functioning health care facilities 
like ours."

   More than 5,700 people have been killed or wounded in Haiti from January to 
mid-September, according to the U.N. Those recently killed include two Haitians 
who worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

   "We call on all parties concerned, including Haitian authorities as well as 
the international community, to do everything in their power to protect 
civilians, uphold international law, and prevent further violence," the council 
said in a statement Thursday. "Neither the Haitian society nor the outside 
world can tolerate that civilians, including aid workers, are killed with 
impunity."