HAITI--STARTLING NEW MOVES, NASTY CLAIMS
By Rickey Singh
Guyana Chronicle
April 4, 2004
AMID SOME rather nasty allegations being made against the Caribbean Community, and Prime Minister P. J. Patterson in particular, by anti-Aristide forces in Haiti and the USA, startling initiatives are underway by and against the ousted Haitian President.
While Jean Bertrand Aristide, currently in temporary exile in Jamaica, has been filing lawsuits against unnamed American and French officials for allegedly "kidnapping" him out of power, the interim US-created and supported regime in Port-au-Prince has disclosed moves of its own:
Within three days of the disclosure of Aristide's "kidnapping" lawsuit filed in France---a similar action was being pursued in the USA---the interim regime in Haiti announced that it would seek extradition of the ousted Haitian President to face trial by an international tribunal on charges of assassinations and possession of some US$1 (one) Billion of monies that belong to the people of Haiti.
The stakes are indeed high and the battle lines fiercely drawn. Governments, representative organisations and institutions of CARICOM will have more than an academic interest in the unfolding dramas.
Haiti, after all, is a full-fledged member of CARICOM, though its seat at Councils of the 15-member Community remain vacant at this time with sharp disagreements pertaining to the legitimacy of the regime in Port-au-Prince and over hostile and contemptuous statements by its interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.
Whether Aristide and his family of wife and two small daughters will be in Jamaica, South Africa or else by the time the regime in Port-au-Prince is ready to execute its threatened extradition demand for his appearance before the proposed international tribunal, is a matter of speculation.
What is of deep concern is the allegations being circulated, especially following CARICOM leaders' refusal to extend recognition to the interim Latortue regime.
The claims include the kind of libellous slander that had been previously heaped on US Congressional leaders, including those of the Black Caucus, for their continuing support for Jean Bertrand Arisitide as the legitimate President of Haiti.
Smear Campaign
Now, they seek to smear the reputation of Prime Minister Patterson and to make out CARICOM as an unworthy grouping from which Haiti should disassociate itself.
Having been intensely involved from last December, including throughout the Christmas season, in initiating and coordinatng efforts to find a practical resolution to the Haitian crisis, right up to the downfall of the Aristide presidency and beyond, Patterson was unmistakably relieved to hand over the chairmanship of CARICOM in St. Kitts. on March 25.
The allegations include low blows on claimed financial benefits as well as suggestions of a possible Jamaica-South-Africa conspiracy to "arm" an Aristide dictatorship in Port-au-Prince.
Patterson, of course, can take comfort from the warm praise that has been flowing from CARICOM heads of government, US Congressional leaders, as well as colleagues from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group for the pressures he withstood, and is still resisting, on governance of Haiti and the ousted Aristide.
Community Secretary General, Edwin Carrington went on record as declaring that from what he personally knew, Prime Minister Pattersaon "deserves a medal" for his guidance and leadership on the Haitian political situation.
He also has a reminder for those who claim that CARICOM had done nothing to help Haiti's readiness for membership participation in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) or the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
It is only in Haiti, as Carrington noted, that CARICOM maintains a special office that has been working with the "Haitian Government Bureau de Suivi" in areas such as training of customs officers and other public servants in Community procedures and practices.
Canada's Friendship
A senior Canadian diplomat, Simon Wade, well versed in the politics and diplomacy of CARICOM member states, was quite active in lobbying efforts in St. Kitts at the 15th Inter-Sessional Meeting that decided against recognising the interim regime in Port-au-Prince of the loquacious and unpredictable Prime Minister Latortue.
Do not be surprised, if the administration of Prime Minister Paul Martin, chooses the opportunity of CARICOM's carefully-articulated "Statement on Haiti" in St.Kitts to make a statement of its own that could clear the air about its non-involvement in the removal of Aristide from office while reaffirming commitment to enhancing Canada--CARICOM relations, without unsettling its own partnership with Washington.
The possibility of a high-level meeting in Ottawa on CARICOM--Canada relations is, I understand, being actively considered.
For its part, the George Bush administration keeps exercising behind-the-scenes pressures to get CARICOM to recognise the regime in Haiti, while Prime Minister Latortue continues to complicate matters by his off-the-wall statments, the latest being that "without Haiti and the Dominican Republic. CARICOM is nothing".
I am sure the Dominican Republic, as a member of CARIFORUM, does not share Latortue's misguided view.
Latortue was at the time angrily reacting to CARICOM's rejection of his inadequate and misleading attempted "clarification" of that political faux pas about "suspension" of Haiti's membership in the Community and his recall of Haiti's ambassador to Jamaica, who was not even there at the time.
Further, an anti-Aristide analyst has circulated, with the help of "compatriots" at the UWI Mona Campus, a case why, he feels, Haiti should have nothing to do with CARICOM. He has described CARICOM as "an obscure entity" and "that monstrous-sounding regional bloc".
While the writer has made some trenchant and relevant criticisms of Aristide and his presidency, including the politics of assassination and violence spawned, he seems to be ill-informed about CARICOM's efforts to help both the administrations of ex-President Rene Preval and that of Aristide in making Haiti ready to comply with the provisions of the revised Community Treaty to access full membership.
More assessment would have to come in a subsequent article, including CARICOM's position on the relationship with the Caribbean Court of Justice by member states like Suriname and Haiti with their differing justice systems to the English-speaking members of the Community.