20783: Esser: Caribbean urged to accept Latortue (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Washington Times
http://washingtontimes.com

March 25, 2004

Caribbean urged to accept Latortue
By David Paulin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Amid a chill in relations over the resignation of
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the Bush administration
quietly is urging wary Caribbean leaders to recognize Haiti´s interim
government as a way to boost the struggling country´s political
stability.
    Washington thinks recognition of Haiti´s new administration by
the 15-member Caribbean Community, known as Caricom, would help
interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue restore peace and order, a
U.S. government official in Washington said yesterday in a phone
interview.
    Caricom leaders will hold a two-day meeting starting today in St.
Kitts and Nevis, where Haiti is expected to dominate the agenda.
    Mr. Latortue, a former U.N. official, is expected to attend. But
some leaders have expressed alarm at a ceremony over the weekend,
during which the new prime minister praised anti-Aristide armed
gangs, including rebels with ties to the island´s notorious death
squads.
    The Bush administration has taken steps to improve relations with
Caricom. Roland Bullen, U.S. ambassador to Guyana, has been named as
special envoy to the bloc, said the Washington official, who asked
not to be named.
    U.S. relations with governments in the region already were
strained by differences over the Iraq war, but they reached new lows
when Mr. Aristide said U.S. forces kidnapped him late last month and
flew him aboard a U.S.-chartered jet to exile in the Central African
Republic.
    U.S. officials vehemently have denied Mr. Aristide´s version of
events, saying that the one-time Catholic priest resigned voluntarily
and that U.S. personnel probably saved his life as rebel forces
closed in on Port-au-Prince, the capital.
    To the annoyance of U.S. officials, Jamaican Prime Minister P.J.
Patterson, Caricom´s chairman, called for a U.N. investigation into
Mr. Aristide´s departure. Mr. Patterson then allowed the former
president to come to Jamaica for "humanitarian reasons" to be
reunited with his wife and two children.
    National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice called Mr. Aristide´s
return to the region a "bad idea," while Mr. Latortue said permitting
the visit was an "unfriendly act." He recalled Haiti´s ambassador
from Jamaica and froze relations with Caricom in protest.
    Jamaican Foreign Minister K.D. Knight insisted that Mr. Aristide
would not be allowed to use Jamaica as a "launching pad" to regain
power.
    Nigeria and Venezuela have offered asylum to Mr. Aristide, who is
expected to stay in Jamaica for up to 10 weeks.
    As part of a U.N.-approved security force, 1,900 U.S. troops are
in Haiti, backed up by 730 French troops, about 360 Canadians and
more than 330 Chileans.
    Haiti and Iraq are not the only sticking points in relations
between the United States and Caricom nations.
    Caribbean leaders fumed over the Bush administration´s insistence
that they sign agreements blocking the extradition of U.S. citizens
and military personnel accused of crimes by the International
Criminal Court, which the U.S. government staunchly opposes.
    In July, the Bush administration cut military assistance to
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago for refusing to sign the
exemption accords.
.