20319: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Premier begins Cabinet picks (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Fri, Mar. 12, 2004

CRISIS IN HAITI | FORMING A GOVERNMENT


Premier begins Cabinet picks

Meeting with diplomats and Haiti's interim president, the new prime minister
begins picking key aides. And the exiled president will visit Jamaica to
review his options.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@herald.com


PORT-AU-PRICE -- Haiti's new prime minister began choosing a Cabinet
Thursday as former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide revealed plans to visit
neighboring Jamaica and end his exile in the Central African Republic.

More than 1,000 Aristide loyalists marched into downtown Port-au-Prince to
push their demands for the former president's return. Shots rang out during
the march and police used tear gas to disperse the protesters. Two men were
killed and seven were injured, The Associated Press reported.

Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said Aristide had requested and been
granted permission to visit Jamaica next week so that he and his wife,
Mildred, could meet with their two young daughters, now living in New York.

''I want to emphasize that Mr. Aristide is not seeking political asylum in
Jamaica,'' Patterson said in a statement. ``His stay . . . is not expected
to be in excess of eight to 10 weeks. He is engaged in finalizing
arrangements for permanent residence outside of the region.''

ROUND OF MEETINGS

Patterson's announcement came on the same day that Gerard Latortue, a south
Florida resident until his designation as prime minister on Tuesday, began
his first full day in Haiti by meeting with interim President Boniface
Alexandre and foreign diplomats.

As Latortue moved from meeting to meeting, a group of advisors weighed
potential candidates for a new Cabinet that will govern Haiti until a new
president is elected.

Latortue was chosen from a group of three finalists by the seven-member
''council of sages,'' which has been charged with filling the power vacuum
left by Aristide when he resigned on Feb. 29.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Patterson and other leaders of the 15-member Caribbean Community, which
includes Haiti, have attacked the United States and France for their role in
Aristide's resignation and demanded an independent investigation.

Patterson said Latortue has asked to visit Jamaica later this month,
apparently to try to repair Haiti-Caricom relations strained by the regional
bloc's stand on Aristide.

At a news conference in Washington, U.S. supporters of Aristide who met with
him Monday in the Central African Republic said the former president was
isolated, with his communications tightly restricted.

Kim Ives said Aristide hoped to move to South Africa, ``where he would be on
the world stage, instead of a backwater, and would be heard.''

TARGET DATE NEAR

Latortue, an economist and South Florida cable TV show host, returned to
Haiti Wednesday along with Herard Abraham, a close friend and former army
general who was among the three finalists for the prime minister's job. All
are hoping to have a new Cabinet in place by the end of this week.

It remained unclear Thursday exactly when the current prime minister, Yvon
Neptune, will officially hand power to Latortue. Neptune, an Aristide ally,
has been living in the prime minister's office under protection of U.S.
Marines and Haitian police.

Earlier this week, Neptune told The Herald he has no plans to leave Haiti
despite calls for his arrest by Guy Phillipe, one of the leaders of a
four-week rebellion against Aristide that left more than 130 dead and the
nation in tatters.

A spokesman for the U.S.-led multinational forces in Haiti declined to say
whether they will protect Neptune once he leaves office.

''We will continue to support the Haitian National Police at their key
sites. As they are reconstituted and able they will assume the role of
security,'' said U.S. Army Maj. Richard Crusan.

WEAPONS SEIZED

Crusan added that Chilean forces stopped a truck carrying weapons Thursday
afternoon in Port-au-Prince, the first gain in the international forces'
declared goal of rounding up weapons to help restore security.

''We are waiting for the National Police to find out . . . what is going on
with these particular people,'' he said. ``I guess you can now say we have
become involved in the actual disarmament.''

Herald staff writers Frank Davies in Washington and Joe Mozingo in
Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.

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