12480: NYTimes.com Article: Aristide: Agreement Near on Aid (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <dgcraig@att.net>

Aristide: Agreement Near on Aid
July 5, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:18 a.m. ET



GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) -- Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide said he expects an agreement with the political
opposition as soon as next week to end a long-running
stalemate and clear the way for a resumption of aid to the
impoverished nation.

Aristide spoke to reporters Thursday night as leaders at
the Caribbean summit worked on securing aid for their
struggling economies and avoided discussion of an outburst
of political violence a day earlier that left two dead and
at least 12 wounded.

The Haitian president criticized international donors for
suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid over an
electoral dispute with the opposition, calling the blocked
aid an "economic embargo."

"We need the opposition," Aristide said. "They are our
brothers. We will keep talking with them. That is the only
way to pave the way forward for a better Haiti."

The political stalemate stems from disputed local and
legislative elections in 2000. Aristide's party won a vast
majority of seats, but the opposition said the vote was
rigged. The Organization of American States ruled elections
for seven Senate seats should have gone to a second round.

Haiti is expected to be approved as the Caribbean
Community's 15th member during the three-day summit in the
South American country of Guyana. The meeting ends Friday.

Police maintained a heavy presence Thursday on the streets
of Georgetown to prevent violence like the confrontation
between police and opposition protesters on Wednesday.
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. Protesters burned at least three
cars and set fires that gutted two buildings. On Thursday,
however, no violence was reported.

Guyana's 800,000 people are divided almost evenly between
those of African and East Indian descent, and political
allegiances follow racial lines. The opposition is
supported mainly by black Guyanese, many of whom argue they
face discrimination under the government of President
Bharrat Jagdeo, who is of Indian descent.

After the violence, police erected barricades Thursday to
block off the hotel where the summit was being held in the
former British colony.

With Caribbean economies struggling amid global competition
and declines in tourism, leaders set up a task force to
help raise more than $250 million in loans for the eastern
islands, plus more aid for other nations, said Prime
Minister Lester Bird of Antigua and Barbuda.

"The idea is to put together a process which would allow
us to go internationally and also to central banks to raise
capital," Bird said.

Economies in the region have been hurt by declining tourist
arrivals since the Sept. 11 attacks, reduced banana
production due to drought in the Eastern Caribbean islands,
and low international prices for bauxite, sugar and gold.

Many nations are reluctant to approach the International
Monetary Fund due to tough loan conditions, Bird said.

Dwight Venner, governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central
Bank, said many nations plan to approach the European Union
and other countries including Libya, Japan and Kuwait for
low-interest loans.

"We have traditional donors and we have non-traditional
donors, and in this open world it is a part of your
sovereignty to approach who you want to,: he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Caribbean-Summit.html?ex=1026893975&ei=1&en=a14583bd578946b7
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company