Haitians Take to the Streets

Last night at 8:30 p.m. the Provisional Electoral Committee (CEP) of the Haitian government published the results of the 28 November election (senators, deputies, and presidential). According to the CEP, Mirlande Manigat (an ex first-lady) got 31% of the popular vote. The runners-up were Jude Celestin (handpicked successor to current president Preval) at 22% and Sweet Mickey Martelly (a popular Haitian singer) at 21%. Only 0.64% separated Celestin and Martelly. Since only the top two candidates go to the run-off election on 16 Jan. 2011, supporters of Martelly have cried foul. The moment after the announcement, Martelly supporters ransacked stores, burned tires, and ran amuck in nearly every Haitian city. Since first light this morning, thousands of Martelly supporters have completely shut down Port-au-Prince and all other major cities with protests and barricades. Both Haitian and international election observers have cited many irregularities with the 28 November election. Adding more fuel to the fire is that a French epidemiologist has acknowledged that the Nepalese contingent of MINUSTAH (the UN peace-keeping force) is the likely source of the cholera epidemic which has now killed over 1,000 Haitians. This is a very serious situation, but it is not beyond the possibility of God to bring peace. Please pray for calm to return to the streets of Haiti. As of now, we see no reason to cancel planned visits in January, but we will monitor the situation.