12485: Caribbean Summit (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By BERT WILKINSON

   GEORGETOWN, Guyana, July 6 (AP)-- Haiti was admitted as the 15th member
of the Caribbean Community, becoming the most populous and poverty-stricken
state in the trading bloc, as it wrapped up a summit that was marred early
on by violence.
   Haiti's acceptance was aimed at bolstering opportunities for regional
manufacturers, but some critics have questioned how much trade can be done
with country where residents have an average income of just $400 a year.
   Members like the Bahamas and Barbados have an average annual income near
$10,000. The community's 14 other member states have a population of 6.5
million.
   "I have been saying all along that people should understand that Haiti
has 8 million people and their buying power would be enormous both now and
in the future. We should take advantage of this," Secretary-General Edwin
Carrington told The Associated Press this week.
   Prime Minister P.J. Patterson of Jamaica had pushed for Haiti's
provisional membership in 1997, reassuring leaders who the consequences of
welcoming the Caribbean's most politically and economically troubled
nation.
   St. Lucian Foreign Minister Julian Hunte, the community's point man on
Haiti, said Friday that Haiti's membership was long overdue but cautioned
the country that suffered nearly 200 years of dictatorship has a long way
to go since democracy and the rule of law have never been entrenched.
   President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government would need help dealing
with precarious national security and in collecting thousands of illegal
weapons in the hands of government and opposition partisans, he said.
   Friday night the leaders said Guyana's President Jagdeo Bharrat will
visit Haiti later this year to welcome it to the bloc and explain the
benefits of membership.
   As the three-day summit was opening Wednesday, violence broke out in
Georgetown during a confrontation between police and opposition protesters.
Police fired on a group that broke away from a march involving thousands
and forced open a gate to enter the yard of the president's office.
   Two died and at least 12 were treated for gunshot wounds, hospital
officials said.
   Friday night the summit condemned the violence, saying, "The heads of
government reiterated their condemnation of any attempt to use
extraconstitutional and illegal means aimed at removing democratically
elected governments from office."
   Earlier Friday, 13 presidents and prime ministers at the summit asked
the region's development bank to raise $100 million to help finance a new
regional supreme court to replace Britain's Privy Council. The court is
expected to open next year.
   The Privy Council has long been the court of last resort for several
former British Caribbean islands. But some Caribbean governments have
complained that the council has tried to cripple their efforts to enforce
the death penalty, which is illegal in Britain.
   Also Friday, Trinidad and Tobago received the community's backing to bid
to be the permanent headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas
over Panama, where the temporary head office is presently.
   The support means that Trinidad would have at least 14 votes at the
Organization of American States, since member Montserrat is a British
colony with no vote in the forum.
   Trinidad's Prime Minister Patrick Manning said he is confident of
getting the 18 votes needed in the 34-nation bloc.