International Republican Institute
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| International Republican Institute | |
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| Abbreviation | IRI |
| Formation | 1983 |
| Headquarters | Washington, DC, United States |
| President | Lorne W. Craner |
| Budget | $78m (2008)[1] |
| Staff | 400 (2008)[1] |
| Website | www.iri.org |
Founded in 1983, the International Republican Institute (IRI) is an organization, funded by the United States government, that conducts international political programs, sometimes labeled 'democratization programs'.[2]
Initially known as the National Republican Institute for International Affairs, the IRI's stated mission is to expand what it interprets as freedom throughout the world. Its activities include teaching and assisting with political party and candidate development, good governance practices, civil society development, civic education, women’s and youth leadership development, electoral reform and election monitoring, and political expression in closed societies. It has been chaired by Senator John McCain since January 1993.[1][3]
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[edit] Background
The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1983 after President Ronald Reagan's 1982 speech before the British Parliament in Westminster in which he proposed a broad objective of helping countries build the infrastructure of democracy. Quoting the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he stated: "we must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings."[4]
The Westminster speech led to the establishment of the National Endowment for Democracy by Congress in 1983. The endowment is a mechanism to channel congressional funds to the International Republican Institute and three other institutes: the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, and the Center for International Private Enterprise. These organizations provide technical assistance to political bodies worldwide.
The majority of the IRI's funding comes from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US State Department, and the National Endowment for Democracy.
At first, IRI focused on democratic institutions and processes in Latin America but has expanded its focus worldwide since the end of the Cold War. IRI has conducted programs in more than 100 countries and is currently active in 70 countries.
The IRI operates as a political organization abroad, providing training and assistance to favoured political parties. As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, it plays no part in domestic U.S. politics. However, the majority of its board, staff and consultants are drawn from the Republican Party.[2] Its sister organization, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, draws mainly from the Democratic Party.
[edit] Partner organisations
IRI works with the following organizations:
- United States State Department
- United States Agency for International Development
- National Endowment for Democracy
- National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
- International Foundation for Election Systems
In Europe, IRI has established a partnership with the European People's Party (EPP).
[edit] Activities
[edit] Involvement in Haiti
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The IRI is accused of training some of the leaders of the 2004 coup d'état in Haiti, as well as funding opposition groups in the country in a destabilization campaign in the months leading up the removal of democratically-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by a coalition of Canada, the US and France. Aristide was replaced with an unelected government which has been in power since that time.
The Cuban government accuses former Congressional staffer Caleb McCarry of orchestrating the coup and attempting to do the same in Cuba;[5] an anonymous State Department source told a salon.com journalist that the funds McCarry allegedly used in Haiti came from the IRI.[6]
The IRI received funding for the Haiti project from USAID for two years (late 2002-2004). [7][8] IRI ended all programming in Haiti in summer 2007. [9]
The now defunct web site http://www.haitigetinvolved.com/ was displaying the IRI logo together with the title "Haiti Get Involved!"[10] from about 2003 until mid 2005, and to be offering news, analysis, reports, documents and training manuals as well as information on the upcoming election and a list of political parties.
CBC television premiered a documentary film about the IRI's role in the coup, Haiti: Democracy Undone, on 29 January 2006.[11]
FOIA documents show that the IRI was involved in training and supporting pro-coup opposition parties. See http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/4/13/15539/1082
IRI was accused by former US Ambassador Brian Dean Curran of undermining his efforts to hold peaceful negotiations between Aristide and his opposition after contested senatorial elections in 2000. According to Curran, Stanley Lucas, then IRI's representative in Haiti, advised opposition leaders not to compromise with Aristide, who would soon be driven from power. Curran also alleged that Lucas represented himself to the opposition as the true envoy of Washington, and his advice—which was contrary to that of the State Department—as advice from the American government.[12] IRI responded to Ambassador Curran's allegations in a letter to the New York Times, stating:
"'Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos' (front page, Jan. 29) found support for some of former Ambassador Brian Dean Curran's charges among only a few Haitians, most of them former associates of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. All have obvious motivation to impugn the International Republican Institute's work, and none presented any evidence to back their accusations." [13]
Otto Reich, who was the State Department's top official on Latin America under Colin Powell, described a change in US policy toward Haiti with the arrival of the Bush administration. According to Reich, Aristide fell somewhat out of favor with the change of US executive, though Powell continued to publicly profess U.S. support for the democratically elected leader. Curran's allegations were corroborated by Luigi R. Einaudi of the Organization of American States.[12]
[edit] 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis
The IRI received $550,000 from the National Endowment for Democracy in 2009 in order to "promote and enhance the participation of think tanks in Mexico and Honduras as 'pressure groups' to impel political parties to develop concrete positions on key issues", and to "support initiatives to implement political positions during the campaigns in 2009" following the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis. [14]
[edit] Creation of right-wing political parties
[edit] Poland
The IRI claims credit for having united and organised a diverse range of "center and center right-wing" political parties together to create the Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność (AWS), which was in government in Poland, together with its coalition partner the Unia Wolnosci (UW) party, from 1997 to 2001.[15] It claims having provided training in political campaigning, communications training and research which helped organise and create the AWS. It also claims that once the AWS was in government, it organised an advertising campaign for the Polish government in order to stop the AWS splitting up over internal tensions:[15]
| “ | IRI initiated a post-election program that emphasized media and communications training for Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek's chancellory and cabinet. | ” |
[edit] IRI personnel
IRI's president, Lorne Craner, assumed leadership on August 2, 2004. From 2001 to 2004, Craner served as Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the US State Department.
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===Board of Directors=== [16]
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===Officers=== [17]
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c New York Times, 28 July 2008, Democracy Group Gives Donors Access to McCain
- ^ a b International Relations Center, loaded 14 April 2007
- ^ CounterPunch, 9 July 2009, Otto Reich and the International Republican Institute: Honduran Destablization, Inc.
- ^ "United States Support of Human Rights and Democracy". Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights, of the Committee on International Relations House of Representatives, One hundred eighth congress, Second session July 7, 2004, Serial No. 108–133. 2004-07-07. p. 105. http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa94707.000/hfa94707_0.HTM#105. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ Jean-Guy Allard (2005-10-28). "Bush’s man for Cuba author of the Haitian disaster". http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2005/octubre/vier28/45mccarry-i.html. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ Max Blumenthal (2004-07-16). "The Other Regime Change". Global Policy Forum. http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/history/2004/0716otherchange.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ "IRI Haiti Program Frequently Asked Questions". IRI. Archived from the original on 2006-08-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20060809080141/http://www.iri.org/FAQ-Haiti.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ "IRI in Haiti". IRI. Archived from the original on 2006-08-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20060903173956/http://www.iri.org/countries.asp?id=7826537582. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ IRI FAQs - July 2008
- ^ http://haitigetinvolved.com/, 28 Jan 2005, December 2005
- ^ "CBC News: Correspondent - Haiti: Democracy Undone". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20071008093414/http://www.cbc.ca/correspondent/060129.html. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ a b Walt Bogdanich and Jenny Nordberg, "Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos", New York Times, 29 Jan. 2006 retrieved 28 July 2007.
- ^ Letter The New York Times Refused to Print Responding to "Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos" February 2006
- ^ National Endowment for Democracy - Latin America Regional Annual Report
- ^ a b "IRI in Poland". Archived from the original on 2005-10-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20051015103000/http://www.iri.org/countries.asp?id=8369274321. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ Official list of members of IRI's Board of Directors
- ^ IRI Leadership
[edit] External links
- International Republican Institute official site
- "U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings" The New York Times, April 14, 2011
- "Fleeing the Battlefield" The Economist, July 28, 2009
- "Secrecy Surrounds Kenyan Election Poll," The New York Times, January 30, 2009
- "Democracy Group Gives Donors Access to McCain," The New York Times, July 28, 2008
- "In Rare Study, Cubans Put Money Worries First" The New York Times, December 13, 2007
- "Weakening Pakistan" The New York Times, December 22, 2007
- "Most Want Musharraf to Quit, Poll Shows" The New York Times, December 13, 2007
- "We did not 'meddle' in Mexico - they asked for our help: Our institute tries to spread freedom and democracy - what's wrong with that? asks Lorne Craner", Guardian [UK], July 26, 2006
- Right Web - "When Democracy Promotion Turns Partisan" IRI in Cambodia, 5 April 2004
- Council on Hemispheric Affairs "The International Republican Institute: Promulgating Democracy of Another Variety" 15 July 2004
- Right Web - "Profile: International Republican Institute"
- Information Clearinghouse - "Haiti – Regime Change: Caught between a rock and a Bush" 3 June 2003
- ZMag - "Propaganda and Destabilization in Haiti" 2 June 2004
- Mother Jones - "The Coup Connection" November 2004
- Miéville, China (2009) Multilateralism as Terror: International Law, Haiti and Imperialism. Finnish Yearbook of International Law 18, 2007, ISSN 07866453.
