Caricom intervenes in Haiti's political crisis

Tuesday, January 6, 2004

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP): The 15-nation Caribbean Community has sent a delegation to Haiti to talk to President Jean Bertrand Aristide, opposition leaders and members of civil society, in a bid to ease worsening political tensions in the nation, Caricom said in a statement Monday.

Aristide approved the mission by the four-member fact-finding team which will report its findings to Jamaican Prime Minister, current Caricom president Percival Patterson, when it returns.

Caricom wants to hold peace talks with Aristide, his political opponents, members of civil society, but a venue and date for such talks has not yet been selected.

The organization's decision "follows reports of a deteriorating political situation in Haiti, resulting in widespread incidents of violence and loss of life" in Haiti, a Caricom member state, the body said in a statement issued in Guyana.

Caricom Assistant Secretary General Colin Granderson, Ambassador of Saint Lucia to the United States, former Jamaican diplomat Sonia Johnny, Matthew Beaubrun and Ambassador of The Bahamas to the United States, Joshua Sears took part in the mission. 

Caricom brokered a deal for the intervention through Jamaica's Ambassador, Peter Black who was in Haiti for the bicentennial celebrations of Haiti's independence from France.

There have been almost daily clashes involving opposition demonstrators, Aristide's supporters and police. On Monday, members of the Democratic Platform involving civic leaders called for a two-day general strike Thursday and Friday this week. 

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