Haiti: the United States for elections but not for a referendum

The United States on Thursday (April 29) renewed its support for elections in Haiti, but opposes the holding of a constitutional referendum, while American parliamentarians have warned of the dangers of a poll this year in this poor country in crisis.

The elections scheduled for September will

,

State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, plagued by violence and kidnappings, has been ruled by decree by President Jovenel Moïse since legislative elections, originally scheduled for 2018, have continued to be postponed.

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"The presidential elections scheduled for the fall are essential to transfer power, in a peaceful and organized manner over time, from one democratically elected president to another,"

Ned Price added to the press.

However, he reiterated the opposition of the United States to the organization in June of a constitutional referendum wanted by Mr. Moïse in order to strengthen the powers of the president.

"We stressed to the Haitian government that the American government would not finance the holding of a constitutional referendum", assured Ned Price.

A group of Democratic parliamentarians sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding that the United States not finance such a referendum, and expressing their doubts about the free and democratic nature of a poll organized by the administration in square.

,' wrote these parliamentarians, led by the chairman of the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee,Gregory Meeks.

Read also: French religious kidnapped in Haiti: an investigation opened in Paris

The Haitian Embassy in Washington denounced the letter, seeing it as a call for

.