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Article Artículo

Haiti

Latin America and the Caribbean

World

Clinton Emails Reveal “Behind the Doors Actions” of Private Sector and US Embassy in Haiti Elections

Recently released e-mails from Hillary Clinton’s private server reveal new details of how U.S. officials worked closely with the Haitian private sector as they forced Haitian authorities to change the results of the first round presidential elections in late 2010. The e-mails documenting these “behind the doors actions” were made public as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

Preliminary results from the deeply flawed 2010 presidential and legislative elections were announced on December 7, 2010, showing René Préval’s hand-picked successor Jude Célestin and university professor Mirlande Manigat advancing to a second-round runoff. The same day, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti released a statement questioning the legitimacy of the announced results.

Behind the scenes, key actors were already pushing for Célestin to withdraw from the race, according to the e-mails.  Just a day after preliminary results were announced, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten wrote to Cheryl Mills, Tom Adams and Daniel Restrepo, all key State Department Haiti staff. “Boulos + private sector have told RP [René Préval] that Célestin should withdraw + they would support RP staying til 7 Feb.” “This is big,” the ambassador added.

HRC email merten

“Boulos” here refers to Reginald Boulos, one of the largest industrialists in Haiti and a member of the Private Sector Economic Forum. Importantly, Boulos also suggested they would support Préval staying in office through February 7, but with the election delayed due to the earthquake, a new president would not be able to take office by then. Many had advocated for Préval’s early departure, and during a meeting of international officials on election day, Préval was even threatened with being forced out of the country.

The e-mail also shows that Merten was in close contact with Michel Martelly’s campaign. Protests had already broken out across Port-au-Prince and in other cities throughout Haiti, with protesters alleging that their preferred candidate, Michel Martelly, should be in the runoff. Merten writes that he had personally contacted Martelly’s “camp” and told them that he needs to “get on radio telling people to not pillage. Peaceful demo OK: pillage is not.” Documents obtained through a separate FOIA request have shown that a key group behind the protests later received support from USAID and went on to play a role in the formation of Martelly’s political party, Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale.

The following day, as per Merten’s suggestion in the e-mail, the U.S. Embassy released another statement calling for calm and urging political actors to “work through Haiti's electoral contestation process to address any electoral concerns.” As the e-mail reveals, however, efforts were underway to remove Célestin from the race before any contestation process could even begin.

Jake Johnston / October 08, 2015

Article Artículo

Of Course Ben Bernanke Could Have Saved Lehman

Ben Bernanke just released his memoir which includes his account of the events around the financial crisis. According to Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bernanke claims the decision to not save Lehman in the fall of 2008 was not really a decision. Bernanke claims that the Fed did not have the ability to save Lehman. This is not true. Since the Fed has essentially a limitless ability to lend money, it surely could have provided enough loans at below market interest rates, for a long enough period of time, that Lehman would eventually have been a viable bank.

Sorkin points to $200 billion in losses suffered by Lehman creditors. This is comparable to the sums lent to both AIG and Fannie and Freddie (combined) at the time they faced insolvency, so getting enough money to at least temporarily patch any holes would clearly have been doable. In October of 2008, the assets held by Lehman were near their lowest levels. (That's not based on an analysis of specific assets, just looking at house prices and the price of other assets.)

Suppose that the Fed had lent Lehman the money needed to meet all its immediate obligations and gave the bank Timothy Geithner's "no more Lehmans" guarantee. This was a commitment that big banks would not be allowed to fail. Geithner repeats it endlessly in his autobiography. This would have allowed the bank to continue to operate and presumably make around $3 billion a year in profit (its pre-crisis level) on its ongoing business.

Dean Baker / October 07, 2015

Article Artículo

Government

United States

Military Spending In the U.S. vs. the Rest of the World

On August 2, 2011, Congress passed the Budget Control Act, which aimed to reduce federal spending through 2021. In the months preceding passage of the Act, members of Congress debated what percentage of spending cuts should come from the military. Implicit in this debate was a subtler question: how do we determine what level of military spending is appropriate?

In determining how to best answer this question, the U.S. may want to learn from the answers provided by other countries. We can compare military spending in the U.S. with military spending throughout the rest of the world to determine if our military spending is abnormally high, abnormally low, or about what we’d expect given our national income.

CEPR and Nicolas Buffie / October 06, 2015

Article Artículo

Haiti

Latin America and the Caribbean

World

Election Council Member’s Resignation a Blow to Haiti’s Electoral Process

The following is cross-posted from the Haiti Elections Blog, which was created to help promote the free access to information and accountability within the electoral process. The blog is co-managed by several non-governmental organizations who work with and within Haiti.

On Friday October 2, Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) member Nehemy Joseph submitted resignation letters (images below) to both President Martelly and his colleagues at the CEP, in a fresh blow to Haiti’s electoral process. Dogged by criticisms over the fraud and violence-plagued legislative elections on August 9, the CEP has suffered from a crisis of confidence as many political parties and civil society groups continue to demand the resignation of its president, Pierre Louis Opont and other changes before presidential elections October 25.

Joseph told president Martelly that he was “not comfortable” staying at the CEP any longer. In his letter to the CEP, Joseph cited his unsuccessful attempts to persuade his colleagues to correct what he perceived as errors and the public criticism of the institution as reasons for his departure. Joseph also singled out the United Nations Development Program’s control over the electoral budget as a factor impeding the work of the CEP.

"Today, I am increasingly convinced that completing my mandate would involve me in illegality. (I feel that my credibility will end up melting away like an ice block if I do not leave.) Indeed, the various unsuccessful efforts I made to persuade some of my colleagues to reconsider certain decisions made in error are, among others, factors that have deepened my concerns ... It is natural to make mistakes, but to persevere in error even while recognizing it as such can prove to be pathological," Joseph wrote. Nevertheless, Joseph concluded by stating that he hopes the electoral process will continue smoothly.

Political insiders had expected the announcement for at least a few days. Joseph is “someone not willing to go down in a sinking boat at whatever the cost,” one political adviser close to president Martelly said, requesting anonymity. The adviser expected the election to proceed as scheduled, though acknowledged he was less sure than prior to the resignation. The decision raises the prospect of other councilors following Joseph out the door, which could put the continuation of the electoral process in jeopardy.

The CEP and the Martelly government insist that elections will go ahead as planned. "This will not affect the work of the CEP," fellow council member Ricardo Augustin told the Haitian press in response to Joseph’s resignation. Jean Renel Sanon, a representative of the National Palace said that the government would be in communication with the Peasant/Vodou sector, which had nominated Joseph to the post, to find a replacement as soon as possible. The electoral decree passed in March stipulates that the CEP can continue to function so long as a quorum of 5 members is achieved.

Jake Johnston / October 05, 2015

Article Artículo

Inequality

United States

Women

Workers

Women Earn Less than Men in 302 of 311 Occupations

In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama discussed the fact that women workers are paid far less than their male colleagues: “That is wrong. And in 2014, it’s an embarrassment. Women deserve equal pay for equal work!”

Some commentators have criticized President Obama’s statement, arguing that the gender pay gap doesn’t account for occupational choices or differences in hours worked. Consider the critique about occupational choices: if women choose to work in low-paying occupations, a substantial gender pay gap can exist even if women are paid the same as men in every occupation. If this is true, we can’t honestly argue that women are being treated worse than men.

CEPR and Nicolas Buffie / October 05, 2015