18953: Esser: Mitchell pleads Haiti's cause (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Nassau Guardian
http://www.thenassauguardian.com

Mitchell pleads Haiti's cause
Saturday February 21, 2004

By KHASHAN POITIER

Guardian Staff Reporter

The armed gangs who seek to overthrow the constitutional order in
Haiti should be urged to lay down their arms, and if not, they should
be disarmed, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell told a U.N.
General Assembly meeting in New York Friday.

Mr Mitchell also said there is the need for economic assistance to
alllow the efforts at restoring order and stability to succeed.

Haiti is presently in the grips of an uprising that began two weeks
ago when rebels took the city of Gonaives, and have since pushed
police out of more than a dozen towns in the north. They accuse
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of breaking promises to help the
poor and of driving the country into chaos while quietly supporting
attacks on opponents — charges the president denies.

The Bahamas has been at the forefront, along with CARICOM leader P.J.
Patterson, of Jamaica, to settle the dispute in Haiti. Meetings have
been held in Nassau, Port-au-Prince and in Kingston.

Mr Mitchell told the General Assembly that Haiti is front and centre
a most urgent issue for the Caribbean region and for the hemisphere.
He said to remedy the crisis in Haiti is not just a "legal obligation
on the world community," but a "moral imperative."

He said both law and morality dictate that the world community should
help, each country to the fullest extent of its resources.

He outlined the plan that was designed to ensure that all the parties
within Haiti, respect the country's constitution in both the letter
and the spirit. "It has been fully agreed and embraced by the
Government of Haiti," he said.

Mr Mitchell told the Assembly that substantial progress is envisaged

in the execution of specific objectives by the Government of Haiti by
the time of the international meeting of CARICOM on March 26 in
Antigua and Barbuda.

He said the plan calls for the continued constitutional role of the
president, and a fully functioning constitutional role of a prime
minister and cabinet.

The plan also calls for the opposition's cooperation in drawing up
rules for demonstrations and their engagement, which has been
rejected in the movement toward "free and fair elections," said Mr
Mitchell.

He said there is a need for professional police and additional
security and economic support. "It calls for disarmament by the
government of all gangs who have weapons and who are a threat to
public order and democracy."

Mr Mitchell said there is a sense of hopelessness and economic
despair in Haiti that has helped to fuel the present events.

He said instability in Haiti means instability in The Bahamas, which
is just 90 miles away. And, if the plan does not follow through, not
only will The Bahamas, but also affected will the neighbouring
islands of Cuba, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos.

"Therefore, I urge your support for the CARICOM initiative to the
fullest extent that your resources allow in all of the areas —
security, good governance, humanitarian relief and economic support,"
Mr Mitchell said.
.