Transcript of a chat with Globe reporter Susan Milligan

Milligan, who chatted live from Haiti, has been a Globe reporter since 1999 and has been reporting on Haiti since 2004.

February 8, 2006

kim 10:56AM	Hi Susan - I must confess I don't know all that much about Haiti. Can you offer, from your perspective, what it's like there right now?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:04AM	Hi, Kim and other readers. This is my first online chat, so I hope evereyone is patient if I have technological trouble. I must confsss I am a terrible typist, so I will try to do my best! Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Many peope live on two dollars a day. It is very difficult for children to go to school, because there are very few places for kids in public schools. Most families cannot afford the $12-24 it costs to send a child to privte school, but they go to great lengths to do so, because they know education is the on;ly way out of poverty. Haitians have endured a difficult past - military rule, colonial rule, dictatorships and simple incompetence. This election, many in Haiti and in the international community hoped, would be a first step in developing the nation. There are 35 candidates who ran for president. Three are front-runners: Rene Preval, Leslie Manigat and Chalres Henri Baker. Preval has the support of many in Haiti's poorest neighborhoods, and
goodmorning 11:05AM	My Mother was going ot be going over to Haiti in March for the organziation HElping hands for Haiti how safe is it for amercian's right now?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:07AM	Good morning, goodmorning. Haiti is always a little volatile, so you have to be careful no matter who you are. The mood here and the safety level are like a tropical storm - it can be sunny one minute and pouring the next. But Americans are not targeted here; it's not like Iraq. The biggest security problem here now is kidnapping, but these are done for financial gain and not for politics. Nearly 2,000 people have been kidnapped for ransom in the past year, but very few of them have been foreigners. I admire your mother for wanting to help Haitians, but would encourage her to take safety precautions. Other NGO's here can give her some guidance.
carla 11:07AM	I don't understand what the election delay was over. Were election officials unprepared? Was security not in place? Has it been so long since their last election that they were "out of practice?"
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:11AM	I don't understand it either. Of course, Haiti is not used to having an election like this, but it did astonish me that with all of the international help and money that they were not able to get things running on time and with good organization. The otehr thing that is surprising is that the mishaps were in neighborhoods where everyone knew there could be trouble. It seems to me that of all of the polling centers in the city, indeed, in the country, that election officials would take special care to make sure things went well to avoid both violence and suspicions of election fraud. Security was actually pretty good; the international troops were fairly calm and didn't make the situation worse. The problem ina place like this is thta it just takes one person to shoot, and then it escalates. So I was personally impressed with the performance of the security forces.
tony 11:11AM	I'm amazed you're able to run an on-line chat from Haiti. Do they have high-tech capabilities?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:13AM	Well, there are some high-speed Internet places. The thing that fascinates me is that a country with sporadic electricity and no running water in many neighborhoods will also have so many Internet centers. This was true in Iraq, as well - even in 2003, when i was there, there was just 2 hours a day of electricity, big security problems and unrest. But there was an Internet cafe across the street from my hotel. Go figure.
tks 11:13AM	Susan - Have you seen/heard any assessments about voting irregularities? I've checked the NYTimes, Globe, Miami Herald and Washington Post articles in today's papers. Though there are complaints about organizational problems (and some "structural" problems--e.g., not placing polling stations in Cite Soleil), I've not yet seen any reports that there is any reason to question the "legitimacy" of the election results, once they are announced. Thanks
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:16AM	It's hard to say now whether there were voting irregularities, though the problems of yesterday certainly suggest there could have been. I think, though, that the biggest problem was just that peoepl weren't able to vote right away, or had to go wait in another line after spending two hours in line someplace else. Lots of people waited it out, standing in lines a mile long to vote despite teh delays. We don't really know yet if everyone who wanted to vote did so.
ben 11:17AM	from what you could see, were the elections conducted fairly?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:18AM	Again, I'm not an election observer and can't answer that for sure. But at the pollng places I visited, I did not see any evidence of intimidation or threats. I'm anxious to see the reports in international and Haitian observers who were all over the country yesterday.
peter 11:18AM	Is there any hope that the situation will improve in Haiti with this election? It seems that no matter who is in office, there are many problems and much poverty. Also, why does the other half of the island -- the Domincan Republic -- seem to be run that much better?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:22AM	A lot of it has to do with the two nations' history. Spain once controlled the whole island, then ceded the westeren side of the island (Haiti) to France. Haiti - populated also by slaves from Africa - was greatly deforested, making it very hard for locals to make a living. With no real democratic tradition after the colonial popwers left, Haiti has struggled for a long time with various regimes that have done little to better things here. The country has no real institutions, which is probably its biggest problem. Education is hard to achieve and substandard at best, leaving the country with a lack of a skilled workforce.
WVW 11:22AM	Susan, can you give us your opinion on how well the elections went?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:23AM	Hi, I tink I've more or less answered that in earlier postings. I think it started out terribly, and got better by mid-day. It could have escalated into something far more violent, and it didn't. But if the election results do not satisfy those in poor neighborhoods who feel they were barred from voting yesterday, there could be problems later.
lamendok 11:23AM	I traveled to Haiti as a student in 2003 and it bascially changed the way I viewed the world and world poverty. I am wondering if you think Preval will win the election and if he does do you think Aristide will return to the country?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:25AM	Preval is indeed the favored candidate in the polls. I think the question is whether he will win in the first round, or whethere there will need to be a runoff. Some people in Cite Soleil and La Saline - two very poor neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince - dream that Preval will bring Aristide back. It wold surprise me if that happened.
codman_sq 11:25AM	Hi, i studied in Haiti a few summers ago, I was wondering what the vibe on the street, are childeren going to school, in the center of the city in lock down?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:28AM	The schools have been closed since last Friday. It was quiet in the day or two before the election, and it's quiet today - government offices are also closed. Some people said tehy were nervous abotu going outside of their homes, but I think for many, they are just waiting to see what happens. Also, not many children get to go to school here. You will see many, many children on the street during the day because their parents cannot afford to send them to private school. Some cannot even afford the 25 cents a day it would take for the child to take the local ``tap-tap'' bus to school.
tp18ma 11:28AM	I have heard of families that are kidnapped for ransom. I know people that have their immediate family in Haiti and come to Boston just to work.
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:30AM	Yes, there has been a rash of kidnappings. The violence in 2004 was political in nature - those who supported former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and those who wanted him out. But now, the violence is almost purely criminal in nature, and gangs are kidnapping people for as little as $100 in ransom or as much as $15,000-20,000.
ben 11:30AM	What generally is the status of women in Haiti? Were there women candidates? Do most women vote?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:33AM	Ah, good question! There was one female candidate for president out of 35 contenders. Many, many women were in line to vote yesterday. The status of women is a different question. I guess I would say that the poverty is so ovewhelming that the condition of women in particular becomes secondary to a lot of women. There is unfortunately a lot of prostitution - among very young girls as well - because of teh poverty.
tks 11:33AM	From the reports of the election I've read, it's been amazing to see how patient and serious voters were--how determined to cast their vote despite the problems. Can you comment on this? It seems to me that the ability to participate in an election meant a great deal to these people. From your observations/interactions with voters, did you get the sense that people felt they were actually able to participate in a meaningful "democratic process"?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:38AM	Yes, I was overwhelmed by the determination of people to vote, and their belief that their votes mattered. it drives me craxy to see so many Americans failing to exerecise their rights to vote. You would think that many Haitians, given their troubled past, would have given up on democratic elections a long time ago, but people yesterday turned out en masse. And they were patient - things turned messy because voters who had awakened at 3 am and walked hours to vote were still waiting to get inside the polling station several hours after the polls were supposed to open. The thing that I love about the Haitians is their remarkable spirit and hope, evne in the face of so much misery. Elections have not solved their problems before, so it would be understandable if they passed this one up. But they didn't. Also, preval's entrance into the race got people more interested. When I was here last year, many people told me they didn't care about the elections, and didn't think it wold make their
codman_sq 11:38AM	What has to role been of the international forces? How have they been received? Do you know of any conflicts between them and the local police (what few they are)?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:40AM	The international forces number about 9,000, including 7,500 military troops. They have been here sicne mid-2004 to help stabilize the country. A lot of people want them out of here, and folks in Cite Soleil and other poor neighborhoods complain that the international forces aren;t being assertive enough in protecitng them from the gang violence. I get the sense there is some tension between the Haitian police and the international troops, but no outright hostility.
tim 11:41AM	What are some of the more prominent diseases in Haiti? Is AIDS as rampant there as, say, in Africa ? Are mosquito-borne viruses rampant there?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:43AM	AIDS is always a problem here, and the poor health care doesn;t help. It's funny that you bring up the mosquito-borne diseases; I didn;t bother to take any anti-malarial medicine with me, and it turns out that malaria is a problem here. I just met aman at the US embassy who contracted a particularly vile strain of malaria and was terribly sick for five days. He's better now. I keep scratching my many mosquito bites, and wondering if one of them did more serious damage <g> But I gather it's really the beach mosquitos that carry malaria.
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:46AM	Anybody else? I think I may have inadvertently deleted someone's question - or allowed it to expire. Many apologies; I'm new at this!
tks 11:50AM	Susan, did you speak with any voters of candidates other than Preval? I'm curious about the reasons they would give for selecting the candidates they chose to support. I'm sure some chose Preval simply because he is still associated in some minds with Aristide, but I'm interested in the reasons they have for supporting a candidate other than this one. Not sure if you can comment on this, but would love to read any insights you might have.
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:58AM	Yes, I absolutely did, especially to supporters of Manigat and Baker, who aree the other leading candidates - though well behind Preval in polls. Manigat is a professorial sort, and his supporters believe he has the intellect and organization to help develop Haiti. He wants to clean out Cite Soleil - an idea that doesn't play well with citizens of that neighborhood (preval has not urged a wholesale razing of the place, instead saying that the citizens there should be given books to replace their guns). Baker is the only light-skinned candidate in the race, and i was sort of surprised to see that he had subsatntial support froma number of black voters as well. He's popular in Petion-Ville, a neighborhood which is wewalthy by Haitian standards. Baker is an industrialist, and several of his black supporters told me they thought he would create jobs for them, since he creates jobs now as a businessman. I guess I expected thre would be more or a racial reaction to Baker, given the country's
tp18ma 11:58AM	How is the drinking water ? I heard it is not safe.
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 11:59AM	I've been drinking the water in my hotel, and I'm not dead yet. But mostly, I stick to bottled water, as I often do when I'm traveling.
codman_sq 11:59AM	Are you staying in the same hotel as many other news people? Are you close to the Presidential Palce
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 12:02PM	There are several hotels up the hill from the main part of teh city where reporters and international observers, etc stay. I like to stay with other reporters, since it's a good way of collecitng information on other parts of the city and country where I was not able to go. Also, we try to convoy sometimes for safety reasons. There are a lot of international observers at my hotel, along woth some beefy men with all kinds of guns strapped to their limbs. I'm not sure who they're with, but I've adopted a ``don't ask; don't tell'' attitude. In 2004, the armed rebels were staying at my hotel, which made things kind of interesting. The presidential palace is downtown, and I would not stay there for safety reasons.
assman 12:03PM	test
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 12:03PM	Something tells me you watch a LOT of Seinfeld.
Scott Schaeffer 12:03PM	Susan, Is there good skiing down there. I hear the volcanoes provide high altitude heli skiing. Is this true?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 12:04PM	Well, that's one I;ve never thought about! It's awfully hot here, and it's hard for me to imagine there wold be good skiing in the Caribbean. But then, there was teh Jamaican bobsled team....
lamendok 12:08PM	susan, just curious how many times have you been to Haiti?? have you ever met or spoken with Paul Farmer? do you ever feel overwhelmed by the poverty there?
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 12:17PM	This is my thrid visit. I was here in 2004, when Aristide was ousted - it was just crazy then. Journalist friends of mine were surrounded by guys with guns. The thugs then doused their car in gasoline, and tried to light the car on fire to burn them alive in their car. They couldn;t get teh matches to light, got bored, and left. It was pretty hairy then - really not safe anywhere. I was here last April, covering the visit of a US congressman and taking the pulse of the country a year after Aristide left. I arrived here early last week. I was overwhelmed by the poverty when I first arrived, and it was hard to focus on anything else. It pains me deeply that we are in the 21st century, with so much wealth and technology available, adn still, for so many people, every day is just a struggle to get to the next day. This is one of those places that has made me consider leaving journalism and doing aid work. It really moved me. The second time I came here I was overwhelmed by the incompetence
Susan Milligan (Moderator, Moderator) 12:18PM	Folks, I see there are several more questions and I;d love to answer them,. but I have to keep my day job, which means I have to go out and report in the city. You can send me a pesonal e-mail at s_milligan@globe.com, and I'll try to answer you later. Thanks again! I've enjoyed my first online chat. Susan