18140: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Caribbean leaders to meet with Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Posted on Wed, Jan. 28, 2004

JAMAICA
Caribbean leaders to meet with Aristide
Hoping to help mediate Haiti's political crisis, Caribbean leaders will meet
with President Jean Bertrand-Aristide in Jamaica on Saturday.
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and a small group of aides will sit
down with Caribbean Community leaders Saturday in Jamaica in an effort to
find a peaceful way out of Haiti's escalating political unrest.

Colin Granderson, an assistant secretary general with the 15-member regional
bloc known as Caricom, said Caricom Chairman and Jamaican Prime Minister
P.J. Patterson will lead the talks in Kingston.

Patterson is expected to be joined by other prime ministers, including Perry
Christie of the Bahamas, Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia and Patrick Manning of
Trinidad and Tobago. The one-day, closed-door meeting will be held in the
presence of observers from the Organization of American States, Canada, the
United States and possibly the European Union, Granderson said.

''We will be looking carefully at making concrete suggestions to Aristide on
how to try and improve the security climate on the ground,'' Granderson
said. ``That would be the major outcome.''

The meeting with Aristide comes on the heels of a similar session held last
week in the Bahamas between Caricom leaders and key figures in Haiti's
opposition factions. Initially, Caricom leaders had hoped to meet with both
sides, but Aristide's opponents said they would not travel to the Bahamas if
he or his representatives took part in the talks.

As a result of the two-day talks in the Bahamas, during which the opposition
aired its grievances against the embattled president, the Caricom leaders
agreed to a set of recommendations they hope will break the political
impasse, which has claimed dozens of lives in recent months.

Many of the steps have already been raised and are found in Resolution 822
of the Organization of American States (OAS), which has been trying to
resolve the Haitian crisis for years. They include the disarmament of street
gangs, judicial reforms, guarantees for the security of anti-Aristide
demonstrators and strengthening the police force.

After being presented with the list on Sunday by Christie, who traveled to
Haiti at the request of Caricom, Aristide told a news conference that he had
already accepted many of the proposals.

Opponents charge that he has not done anything to make them reality.

The OAS sent several diplomatic missions to Haiti in an attempt to find a
solution to the crisis since disputed parliamentary elections in 2000 won by
Aristide supporters. Haiti now has no working parliament because the
opposition has refused to participate in new elections, saying it does not
trust Aristide.

Even following what they called a successful meeting in the Bahamas, they
remain adamant that they will not stop a two-month old string of street
demonstrating calling for Aristide's resignation.

Aristide has vowed to remain in office until his term ends in 2006.

Caricom leaders have insisted that their round of discussions are not a
negotiation but a way to help mediate the Haitian political crisis by
keeping both sides talking.

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