CARICOM strains with Haiti remain deep

by Kia Penso

Friday, March 26, 2004

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (AFP): Haiti topped the agenda of the meeting of the heads of government of CARICOM Thursday, though Haitian interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue did not attend -- and in fact has not tried to try to patch up severely strained ties.

Caribbean Community officials say Latortue has not communicated with the organization since St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas asked him to denounce his actions and statements of the past week.

Latortue withdrew his ambassador from Jamaica and threatened to terminate relations CARICOM after the former president of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide, arrived in Jamaica at the invitation of Jamaica's Prime Minister Percival Patterson.

Caricom last met at an emergency session in Kingston, Jamaica, immediately after Aristide left Haiti February 29. That meeting concluded with a call by CARICOM for an independent investigation into the circumstances of his departure. Pending the outcome of an investigation, CARICOM has been reluctant to deal normally with the new government in Haiti.

Countries in CARICOM and the African Union have called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Aristide's departure from Haiti.

Aristide claims he was forced out under US and French pressure. The United States has dismissed this claim, and continues to state that Aristide left Haiti at his own request. 

Aristide arrived in Jamaica on March 15 from the Central African Republic, where he had been staying since he left Haiti on February 29, in the midst of an armed uprising. He was expected to spend 10 weeks in Jamaica, but his presence so close to his still unstable country had raised fears that his supporters might be tempted to mount a counterattack.

Latortue was named prime minister March 9, nine days after Aristide fled the country.

Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs, K.D. Knight, expressed confidence that Latortue "would soon learn the difference between being a Prime Minister at the head of a government and a private citizen living in Florida." He characterized Latortue statements as intemperate, and said that CARICOM still expects them to be withdrawn.

He said that Haiti could ill afford the isolation in which it would find itself without the support of regional organizations such as CARICOM. "We do not want Haiti to be isolated," Knight said.

Knight said however there were conditions: Latortue, he said, "cannot get up on a platform with rebels; he cannot stand up and embrace convicted criminals who call themselves leaders." Patterson, in his opening remarks, defended CARICOM's efforts to resolve the crisis that developed in Haiti. 

"The CARICOM plan presented a logical blueprint for achieving lasting democracy in Haiti, and despite our best efforts, that plan was torpedoed. While it may not have been implemented to its full term, we can take comfort in the fact that as a community, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the tenets of democracy and good governance in our societies." 

Patterson added, "I believe CARICOM has every reason to be proud of our initiative."

He restated CARICOM's commitment to helping Haiti through its support of the values of civil society, and urged the regional body to "stay the course." 

"We may be small in size. We make no claim to military power. But our influence in the hemisphere cannot be underestimated. We do not believer that there will be a lasting and permanent solution in Haiti unless CARICOM is involved and allowed to play a meaningful role. Nothing can be accomplished without our collective support."

A delegation from the US Congressional Black Caucus is expected to arrive here Friday for further discussions of Haiti. The United States quickly recognized Latortue's interim government.

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