22686: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Caribbean (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By PETER PRENGAMAN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 13 (AP) -- A delegation of five Caribbean foreign
ministers met Haiti's interim leaders Tuesday, hoping to restore relations
strained since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ouster and
government inaction to rein in armed rebels.
   The talks were aimed at determining whether Haiti and the 15-member
Caribbean Community will resume relations frozen for four months as the
regional bloc refused to recognize the new U.S.-backed government.
   The delegation emerged from talks with interim Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue and other officials saying they wouldn't reveal details until a
news conference Wednesday morning. Members of Aristide's Lavalas Family
party entered the talks late Tuesday.
   "It's gone well," Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said as
he walked out with counterparts from Antigua, Barbados, Trinidad and
Guyana.
   The Caribbean Community has laid out several conditions for recognizing
the new government, including disarming rebels whose three-week uprising
led to Aristide's ouster on Feb. 29.
   The talks came as a new report released Tuesday said Haiti will require
some $1.3 billion over the next two years to rebuild and to fight poverty.
   The report was released by the World Bank in conjunction with the
government, the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank and the
European Commission.
   The World Bank said the assessment will be the focus of a donor's
conference on Haiti in Washington starting Monday.
   With the economy in shambles, many Haitian business leaders say it's
time to put aside squabbles with the regional trade bloc known as CARICOM.
   "The political class is furious about CARICOM, but business people are
wiser," said Claude Beaubeouf, executive director of the Haitian Chamber of
Commerce. "They are aware of the economic potential" of being a bloc
member.
   Haiti's political turmoil in recent decades has limited commerce.
Economists estimate trade between Haiti and Caribbean Community nations is
only about $3 million per year. Haiti trades much more with neighboring
Dominican Republic, a nonmember.
   Haiti's interim government suspended membership in the Caribbean
Community in March as Jamaica gave temporary refuge to Aristide, who stayed
until May 30 before moving to South Africa where he has been given
temporary asylum.
   The bloc, in turn, withheld support for the interim government, raising
concerns over Aristide's claim of being forced out by the United States.
U.S. officials deny the claim.
   Caribbean leaders also say Haiti should guarantee elections soon.
Latortue has said parliamentary and presidential elections would be next
year, though dates haven't been set.