The World : Haiti Drops 11 Candidates

Haiti’s military-led government, in a surprise move, dropped 11 of the 22 candidates for the Jan. 17 presidential election. Apparently trying to deflect criticism that it was accepting followers of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, the government excluded all but one of the so-called Duvalierists. The announcement came in a two-minute radio broadcast announcing the military-picked Electoral Council’s final list of 11 candidates. An attempt to hold the vote last Nov. 29 was canceled because of violence. More than 30 people were killed, some allegedly by former members of Duvalier’s dreaded militia, the Tontons Macoutes.