Caricom concerned over Haiti situation

Monday, January 5, 2004

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (AFP): Anti-government demonstrations in Haiti are "worrying in the Caribbean Community (Caricom)," Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning said Saturday.

"We are deeply concerned and must find a way forward to deal with the crisis", he told reporters.

Earlier this week, Manning held talks with Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington on the unrest gripping Haiti.

Manning has since contacted out-going Caricom chairman, Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson, on an approach to dealing with the problems in French-speaking Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. 

According to a statement from Manning's office, anti-government demonstrators "have been repeatedly calling for the resignation of Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide."

It said clashes between the demonstrators and Aristide's supporters were mounting, and the situation "needed to be addressed urgently."

When Manning met with US President George W. Bush last month in Washington, Haiti was one of the issues they discussed. 

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