18227: (Chamberlain) Bahamas mediation (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

(Nassau Guardian, 3 Feb 04)


Mitchell Haiti-bound

Will intermediate between Aristide, opposition forces

By MINDELL SMALL


Fresh from weekend Jamaica talks, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell
will be traveling to Port-au-Prince, Haiti today to again engage opposition
groups in discussions on matters relating to the Haitian political crisis.

Minister Mitchell called a press conference Monday to "put in context," The
Bahamas' role in matters relating to Haiti since the intensification of
talks between CARICOM and president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and opposition
groups.

He said during his meeting with the opposition, he would give an update on
the Jamaica talks with president Aristide, since both sides are still not
talking to each other. Mitchell's trip is another in what has been a series
for Bahamian government officials, relaying information from meetings with
one side to the other.

He said he hoped soon, both the opposition and governing party in Haiti
would resume negotiations, signaling the most significant diplomatic step
forward, in a country whose political situation has been described by
CARICOM to be at "a perilous juncture." With increasing distrust over the
years, the two sides discontinued negotiations in 2000, after what the
opposition referred to as a year of "botched" elections.

Mr. Mitchell said he would meet with the main opposition groups including
the Convergence Democratique" party and a coalition organisation "Group of
184," that use to be made up of 184 small groups but has since grown to
about 230. It includes professionals in business, industry, education,
civic organisations and the Protestant Federation of Churches. He said he
hopes to meet again with Andre Apaid, a very influential leader in Civil
Society. Mitchell met with Apaid last week as the opposition leader did not
attend the Nassau talks.

Mr. Mitchell also acknowledged his awareness of mounting domestic criticism
regarding the time being spent on the Haiti exercise. He said in one
quarter it was suggested that instead of spending time on problems in The
Bahamas, the government is spending time on problems in other countries.

"But the fact is, the cold hard fact is that whatever work is being done is
in fact helping Bahamians. Because we have a stake and an interest," he
said.

He said The Bahamas should do all it can in ensuring that it has a place at
the table in the Haiti talks since the archipelago takes on the greatest
economic burden, among all Caribbean countries, from the Haitian migration
problem. He said The Bahamas, as part of CARICOM, also has a responsibility
to do what it can to ensure its member states, which includes Haiti, are
not destroyed by political instability, that ultimately affects the entire
region.

CARICOM previously said Haiti is also entitled to economic support and
denying such support would be to the detriment of the Haitian people.

Mr. Mitchell said some people have responded to CARICOM's pronouncements
with skepticism, claiming the 15-nation regional body has no resources and
can in no way do what the larger, more industrialized countries can do to
help Haiti.

"Well I suppose if you want to throw your hands up in the air and fold up
your tent you can do so," he said.

"The point is we have a moral stake in this, we have an economic interest
in it, we have a security interest in it," adding that The Bahamas
government must try, the best way it can, to affect change in the poor
republic, where migrants in increasing numbers are leaving and coming to
The Bahamas.

He said CARICOM has always tried to act in concert with the United States,
Canada, the Organisation of American States and the European Union, whose
financial resources are far greater, and as a result are better equipped to
move the democratic process forward in Haiti.

Minister Mitchell spoke about the new rules, that are being drawn up to
govern demonstrations by opposition groups in Haiti. He said the police
created previous rules but the opposition groups charged they were too
restrictive. The old rules have been withdrawn and new rules would probably
be implemented in four to six weeks.

He also said successive governments in The Bahamas have had one policy
regarding Haitian migrants, which was to round them up and send them back
to Haiti. He noted that while repatriation exercises are necessary, they do
not help to correct the problems in Haiti and so Haitians will continue to
come here. He said it is hoped the talks will set the stage for the
electoral machinery to be established, for elections to take place, for
political stability to be achieved and ultimately pave the way for economic
growth, creating a better environment for the majority of Haitians.

Minister Mitchell will be accompanied by the Assistant Secretary General of
CARICOM, Colin Granderson, and a representative of the Trinidadian
government. He is expected to return home on Thursday.