a1040: OAS and Haitian Government Sign Agreement (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: kevin pina <kpinbox@hotmail.com>


OAS assistant secretary-general ends three-day consultations, signs
agreement with Haitian government
Fri Mar 1,12:04 PM ET
By MICHAEL NORTON, Associated Press Writer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A top official of the Organization of American
States left Haiti Friday, saying he was satisfied an agreement reached with
the government could help end a lingering political stalemate.


The OAS has agreed to enlarge its Haiti mission, which it hopes will
jump-start idle negotiations between President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's
governing Lavalas party and the opposition. Presidential spokesman Behrman
Gay said Aristide welcomes plans for a "reinforced mission."

It was the 18th time OAS Assistant Secretary-General Luigi Einaudi has
visited Haiti since flawed elections two years ago caused a political
stalemate and the suspension of aid.

Although it was unclear when the OAS mission would begin its new effort with
more staff and technical assistance, key points in the agreement target
"security, justice, human rights and governance," Einaudi said.

"For the first time, this gives us a chance to begin to create the
conditions for the resumption of talks and an end of the crisis," Einaudi
said as he boarded a plane to Washington.

Last month, the OAS recognized Haiti's political situation had deteriorated
and pledged to assign technical experts to help the government work its way
out of the crisis.

During his three-day visit, Einaudi met with the foreign diplomatic corps,
Aristide, representatives of Aristide's governing party, the opposition, and
prominent civil society leaders. The meetings were held behind closed doors.

Einaudi did not attempt to mediate talks between the government and
opposition, at loggerheads since Aristide's party swept local and
legislative elections in 2000.

The OAS determined that elections for seven Senate seats should have gone to
a second round.

While poverty and political instability in the Western Hemisphere's poorest
country have increased, the international community has blocked hundreds of
millions of foreign aid dollars until the government and opposition reach a
consensus on new elections.

Hopes for an agreement were dashed after Dec. 17, when gunmen raided the
National Palace, in what Aristide said was an attempt to assassinate him.
The opposition alleges it was staged as a pretext to clamp down on dissent.

At least 10 were killed in the attack and subsequent violence, and Aristide
partisans burned an opposition headquarters and the homes of opposition
leaders. Journalists also were threatened.

"We do not believe Aristide wants to steer Haiti toward democracy,"
opposition politician Evans Paul said.

Eleven members of his party are in jail, seven of them arrested Feb. 8 and
charged with belonging to a kidnapping ring. Paul denies the charges, saying
they are part of a plan "to dismantle the opposition."

In October, the opposition agreed to recognize Aristide's legitimacy in
exchange for new local and legislative elections. After the Dec. 17
violence, it said the agreement would have to be renegotiated.



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