Caribbean Community not to re-admit Haiti until after elections

www.chinaview.cn 2005-01-09

HAVANA, Jan. 8 (Xinhuanet) — Haiti will not be allowed back into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) until the country hold electionsin December this year and democracy is restored, Jamaican Foreign Minister Keith Knight said Friday.

“When democracy returns to Haiti, then that nation will be admitted again in the CARICOM. But there are things that have to occur before Haitian leaders appear in the bodies of the CaribbeanCommunity,” Knight said, according to reports from Georgetown, capital of Guyana.

Despite petitions by Washington, which backs the transitional government of Haiti, CARICOM barred Haiti from attending its assemblies and councils, saying ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced into exile in February 2003 and the current government’s legitimacy is in question.

But Knight said voting can not guarantee Haiti’s re-entry into the regional body.

“Democracy goes beyond elections. It has to do with how people are able to participate in power, and we would not want to see discriminating practices in Haiti,” he said.

CARICOM members are discontent with the transitional governmentheaded by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue who “resorted to arbitrary practices” and failed to curb political violence and bring stability to the country, the Jamaican Foreign Minister said.     

“We are waiting to see if the democratic process is to arrive soon, and we remain concerned over the humanitarian situation in Haiti,” Knight said.

Latortue accused Guyana, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines of preventing Haiti from returning to CARICOM, but Knight insisted all members of the organization have consensus on the issue.

Bands of rebels and former soldiers launched a three-week rebellion in February that ended with Aristide’s ouster. A US-led peacekeeping force came to restore peace in Haiti, which was replaced in June by a 3,000-member United Nations (UN) force led by Brazil.

However, the rebels and former soldiers have refused to disarm and some of them attempted to perform unauthorized law enforcementfunctions. Violence persisted in the poorest country in the Caribbeans.

In November, the UN extended its mission until June this year and called for a national dialogue and reconciliation process among Haitian groups. It also expressed concerns over the arbitrary detentions of some Haitians by the government.

Created in 1973, CARICOM groups Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, and Trinidad and Tobago.

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