17941: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-15-nation group to talk about unrest in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Jan. 15, 2004

CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
15-nation group to talk about unrest in Haiti
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and leaders of the opposition in Haiti have
been invited to a summit next week.
BY MICHAEL A.W. OTTEY
mottey@herald.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- In an effort to end the political impasse and unrest in
Haiti, the 15-nation Caribbean Community will convene a summit in the
Bahamas next week of government officials and opponents.

There's been no official confirmation as to whether President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide or leaders of the opposition will attend the meeting set for
Wednesday.

On Tuesday, during a trip to Monterrey, Mexico, Aristide called on the
opposition to participate in the talks sponsored by the Caribbean Community.
Haiti is a member of CARICOM.

But Andy Apaid, one of the leaders of Group 184, an opposition coalition
that includes groups from various public and private sectors of Haitian
society, quickly rejected that idea.

He said the opposition would send representatives to the Bahamas not to meet
with Aristide but to air before CARICOM a long list of grievances against
the government.

Aristide wants the opposition to come to the table to discuss new elections,
but his political opponents have so far refused. The opposition has refused
a new election since claims of fraud in the 2000 legislative balloting.

Opponents instead have called on the president to resign, and have drafted a
plan for an interim government until elections can be held.

Leonard Robertson, a spokesman for CARICOM, said on Wednesday that the hope
is that Aristide and the key players of the opposition would attend the
meeting.

''It's just a continuing engagement of CARICOM in Haiti, Haiti being our
newest member state,'' Robertson said. ``Each party will determine how it
will proceed, and CARICOM will be the broker as to how the sessions will
proceed. We will have to await agreement.''

Aristide has also called for talks with the opposition over the next six
months that would lead to new elections.

Haiti is currently operating without a legislature because the terms of
legislators expired on Monday, forcing Aristide to rule by presidential
decree.

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