=?x-unknown?q?22955=3A__=5BWINDOWS-1252=5D_Esser=3A_CARICOM=92s?==?x-unknown?q?_Action_on_Haiti=3A_Honor_for_a=5BWINDOWS-1252?==?x-unknown?q?=5D__Few=2C_Shame_for_Most_=28fwd=29?=

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser <torx@joimail.com>


Council On Hemispheric Affairs
Memorandum to the Press 04.50

http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2004/
04.50_CARICOM%20Haiti.htm

Thursday, August 12, 2004

CARICOM’s Action on Haiti: Honor for a Few, Shame for Most

• Whatever happened to Jamaican P.J. Patterson’s spunk?
• Trinidad's Patrick Manning clamors to be in Uncle Sam’s pocket.
• Barbados’ Owen Arthur strangely silent.
• CARICOM all but ignores relentless persecution of Aristide’s
political party and an ominous list of casualties occurring among the
ousted president’s backers.

As most of the members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) prepare
to relinquish their principled stand on Haiti, perhaps as a result of
Washington's leverage over their troubled economies, three nations
are determined to hold firm to their democratic principles. Guyana,
St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines oppose any recognition
at this time of the Haitian government led by interim Prime Minister
Gerard Latortue. In the past months, CARICOM, at first led by
Jamaica’s P.J. Patterson, had steadfastly refused to recognize the
interim government that was formed upon the February 29, 2004 ouster
of the democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand
Aristide.

A delegation of five CARICOM foreign ministers led by Barbados’ Dame
Billie Miller visited Haiti in July and has since recommended that
CARICOM return to “full engagement” with the Latortue government. The
recommendation marks an abrupt reversal of CARICOM’s previous doughty
position on Haiti – the regional bloc had been the most vocal
advocate of Haitian democracy and its sovereign rights in the days
immediately before and after Aristide’s overthrow.

Championing the Haitian cause in both the UN and the Organization of
American States (OAS), CARICOM was forced to drop its request for a
UN investigation as a result of determined opposition from the U.S.
and France and Secretary General Kofi Annan’s unfortunate languor
over the subject. However, CARICOM’s persistence eventually led to an
OAS resolution that essentially acknowledged that “an
unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional regime that
seriously impairs the democratic order in a member state” had taken
place in Haiti. Due to their adamant concern for Haitian autonomy,
CARICOM members initially took a stand that affirmed their own
self-respect as well as their insistence that, although tiny, they
would not allow their dignity to be trampled. They also insisted that
they would not act as indifferent bystanders as armed insurgents and
the hemisphere’s larger nations, such as the United States,
interfered with the constitutional process of a fellow CARICOM nation.

The three heroes
Guyanese president Bharrat Jagdeo, St. Lucian prime minister Kenneth
Anthony and St. Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister Ralph
Gonsalves have insisted that full engagement with the new government,
if it happens at all, should not take place before the special summit
of CARICOM leaders scheduled to take place in Trinidad and Tobago in
November. All along, Gonsalves has displayed inestimable pluck by
maintaining his insistence on salvaging CARICOM’s honor regarding
Haiti. But Jagdeo must have warmed the heart and done homage to the
ideals of Guyana’s greatest historical figure, the late Cheddi Jagan,
when he emphasized that “the issue of ensuring that constitutional
governance is not disrupted by coups or political violence remains of
deep concern to Guyana.” Jagdeo’s words were particularly important
since unlike his mentor, Jagan, who was considered the soul and
undeniable moral force of CARICOM, the country’s current leader was
viewed up until now as more of a technocrat than a visionary.

As the other members of CARICOM succumb to concerns of political
expediency and base self-interest, these three countries should be
praised for their continued focus on the real problems extant in
Haiti. How can CARICOM in good conscience walk away from a series of
hard facts? While Latortue holds de facto power in Haiti, he
certainly does not hold the premiership as the result of a legal
process: he was plucked from his reportedly gated community in Boca
Raton and then extra-constitutionally installed in the National
Palace in Port-au-Prince.

Jamaican Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Keith Knight says
that Jamaica is “committed to helping the Haitian people in their
institutional and capacity-building, working with the United Nations
mission in areas such as the Haitian police, the electoral system and
the administration of the country, to improve the life of the people
there.” While these are admirable sentiments, the members of CARICOM
now pushing for the recognition of the Latortue government should
consider the ultimate implications of their alleged “realism.”

Genuflecting to Washington was not exactly a problem for Trinidad and
Tabago's prime minister Patrick Manning, who had no honor to lose
when he said, "What has happened in the past we consider very
unfortunate, we don't like it at all. However, we think the time has
come to move on." Equally strange is the conduct of Barbados' Owen
Arthur, who has been all but silent on the issue. Barbados' seemingly
compromised position is reminiscent of the late Tom Adams' role in
the 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada, when Barbados' then Prime Minister
closed the island's airport to prevent U.S. medical students from
fleeing Grenada, thus removing Washington's pretext to invade the
island.

The majority of CARICOM now seems ready to accept a constitutionally
blemished government in Port-au-Prince, which seems intent on
pursuing a program of persecution against, rather than constructive
engagement with, their political opponents. There are growing reports
coming out of Haiti of massive human rights violations, including the
violent deaths of hundreds of perceived opponents of the Latortue
government as well as those who actively supported Aristide. In
addition, Lavalas political figures, including a number of former
high level officials like former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, have
been arrested and are now rotting in jail. As additional negative
accounts of wrongdoing come to light, perhaps CARICOM will abandon
its haste to recognize the interim government and return to its more
principled stance.

This analysis was prepared by Kirstin Kramer, COHA Research Associate

August 12, 2004

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