Haitians' criticism of gov't growing
TITANYEN, Haiti — The mourning is far from over, but the politicking has resumed.
Hundreds gathered Monday at a gravel pit where countless earthquake victims have been dumped, turning a remembrance ceremony for the dead into one of the first organized political rallies since the disaster, with followers denouncing President Rene Preval.
Many called for ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return — a familiar political refrain when things swing between bad and worse in Haiti.
"Preval has done nothing for this country, nothing for the victims," said Jean Delcius, 54, who was bused to the memorial service by Aristide's development foundation. "We need someone new to take charge here. If it's not Aristide, then someone competent."
Critics were already blaming Preval for rising unemployment, corruption and greed. Then the Jan. 12 earthquake struck, killing at least 150,000 people, flattening most government buildings and turning the capital into an apocalyptic vision of broken concrete and twisted steel.
Preval has rarely been seen in public since, leaving his ministers to defend his performance — a job they are growing increasingly weary of.
Asked Monday about the criticism of Preval, Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelin Lassegue batted back the questions, frowning and looking irritable.
"Those questions are for the president or the prime minister," he said.
Haiti's government also has had to deal with the 10 Americans who tried to take a busload of undocumented Haitian children out of the country. Prime Minister Max Bellerive also said "what they were doing was wrong," and they could be prosecuted in the United States.
"It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents," Bellerive said. "And it is clear now that they knew what they were doing was wrong."
U.S. Embassy officials would not say whether Washington would accept hosting judicial proceedings for the Americans. For now, the case remains firmly in Haitian hands, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington.
