20557: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Jamaican prime minister says Aristide presence is humanitarian gesture

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Jamaican prime minister says Aristide presence is humanitarian gesture

By Alva James-Johnson
Staff Writer
Posted March 17 2004

Kingston, Jamaica · Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, responding to the
backlash from Jean-Bertrand Aristide's arrival in his country, told a
divided Parliament on Tuesday that the decision to accept the ousted Haitian
president was a just one based on humanitarian grounds.

At the same time, local media reported that the country's Honorary Consul
General to Port-au-Prince Robert Tippenhauer had resigned Monday in protest
of the government's actions, stating that he felt "deeply hurt" by
Patterson's decision to allow Aristide to come to Jamaica.

The controversy swirled a day after Aristide and his wife, Mildred
Trouillot, arrived in the island nation on an extended visit. The couple
were taken to what has been described by officials as a rural prime
ministerial residence in St. Ann parish. Jamaican media reported that the
site was heavily guarded by soldiers and helicopters.

Aristide, who accused the United States of abducting him and forcing his
departure from Haiti on Feb. 29, made no political comment when he arrived
Monday in Kingston, apparently bowing to the government's demand that he not
use his visit to pursue a campaign to return to Haiti.

"I made it clear to Mr. Aristide that I did not expect him to use his stay
in Jamaica to engage in any political or other activities inimical to the
fragile stability and order which were being re-established in Haiti,"
Patterson said before Parliament.

He also emphasized that Aristide was a temporary guest on the island.

"At no time, either before or since his arrival on the island, has he
indicated any wish to apply for political asylum," Patterson said.

"I anticipate that he will use his stay in Jamaica to be reunited with his
family and to finalize arrangements for the relocation of his family and
himself to another country which is prepared to receive him on a long-term
basis."

Jamaica says it is allowing Aristide and his wife up to 10 weeks' respite to
reunite with their two daughters, who were sent to New York for their
safety, and to decide on a permanent home in exile. Unofficially, Jamaican
officials say Aristide wants to go to South Africa.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez offered asylum on Tuesday to Aristide.

"We don't recognize Haiti's new government. The president of Haiti is named
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and he was elected by his people," said Chávez, who
also accused the United States of removing Aristide.

Patterson's decision has put him at odds with the new Haitian government,
which under the leadership of interim Prime Minister Gérard Latortue
suspended diplomatic relations with Jamaica and Haiti's membership in the
15-member Caribbean Community, known as CariCom.

Patterson said he has heard through media reports that Latortue was freezing
relations with Jamaica and CariCom but had not been informed officially by
Haitian authorities.

"Any such action can only have negative consequences for the long-term
economic and social development of the Haitian people," Patterson said.

He said the issue of relations with the interim government of Haiti would be
the subject of urgent review at the upcoming Inter-Sessional Meeting of
CariCom in St. Kitts and Nevis, March 25 and 26.

The sudden resignation of Tippenhauer, who had served as honorary consul
general for 25 years, came as a shock to many Jamaicans. He was appointed to
the position by Patterson, who at the time was the country's foreign affairs
minister.

Tippenhauer said that he resigned as soon as he heard that Aristide's plane
had landed in Kingston.

"When I heard [Patterson] was hosting a dictator that the Haitian people
forced out of Haitian territory, this represented a slap in the already
bloody face of the Haitian people who are trying to get back in concert with
the civilized people of the world," Tippenhauer said in an interview with
the island's Hot 102 Radio station. "This is a personal decision and I did
not have to discuss it with anybody but my conscience."

But Patterson defended his decision before Parliament, saying that Aristide
had been elected president by an overwhelming vote in the 2000 election.

He said he and other members of CariCom were disappointed that the United
States didn't follow an action plan developed by the group, which called for
a power-sharing arrangement by Aristide and his opponents "to strengthen
democracy and the rule of law within the country."

He said Jamaica's foreign minister spoke to Aristide on Feb. 28, the night
before he left Haiti, and there was no indication that he might resign.

"Jamaica and CariCom were, therefore, shocked and alarmed to hear on the
morning [of Feb. 29] that President Aristide had voluntarily resigned and
had left Haiti for an undisclosed location," he said. The organization has
called for an investigation into the circumstances of Aristide's departure.

Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.

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