In most countries democratic institutions are growing stronger. Progress in democratic consolidation has been uneven, however, and great challenges remain. Recent coup attempts in Paraguay and in Ecuador, a questionable presidential election in Peru, Colombia's ongoing civil conflict, and, most essential to today's meeting, the flawed election results in Haiti, are disturbing developments. While disturbing, I want to emphasize an important fact. These developments run counter to a twenty-year trend toward democratization throughout the hemisphere.
Democracy remains alive and vital in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A major question remains as to whether Haiti will be added to the list of hemispheric nations that have achieved democratic elections this year. Haiti's quest to solidify its position in the ranks of world and Western Hemisphere democracies since the 1986 demise of the Duvalier family dictatorship certainly has been fraught with many obstacles and setbacks. Over the past three years, in particular, Haiti has been plagued by one debilitating political crisis after another. That crisis centers around how Haitian authorities determined the results of the Senate elections run on May 21. With dignity and a commitment to the principles of democracy, Haitians clearly expressed their desire to choose transparently, through the ballot box, a government that could work toward ending hunger, poverty, illiteracy, disease, and corruption.