24067: Craig (pub) VOA: Haiti Foreign Minister Says Country on Edge of Crisis (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <dan@bmini.ws>



Haiti Foreign Minister Says Country on Edge of Crisis Peter Heinlein
United Nations 13-January-2005 0001 The U.N. Security Council has
appealed to international donors to renew their commitment to Haiti as
the flood-ravaged Caribbean nation prepares for elections later this
year. The western hemisphere's poorest nation was the subject of a
daylong Council debate. At a moment when world attention is focused on
Asia's tsunami tragedy, Haitian leaders are warning that their country
is in danger of slipping back into crisis. Last year, after a rebellion
overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and floods killed thousands
of people, donors pledged more than one billion dollars in economic
assistance. But less than one-fifth of that total has been disbursed.
Addressing the U.N. Security Council Wednesday, Haiti's foreign minister
Yvon Simeon urged donors to remember the pledges they made last year. He
said Haiti's status as the poorest nation in the Americas was the
product of 200 years of dictatorial misrule. "After two centuries of
ineffective political and economic management, the republic of Haiti
today is at the edge of the abyss," he said. "The situation in terms of
abject poverty and misery has reached alarming proportions in terms of
the socio-economic infrastructures, which are in a very advanced state
of decay." On the eve of the Security Council meeting, the World Bank
announced it had approved $73 million in grants and loans to Haiti. In
addition, the United States, Canada and the European Union this week
pledged $41 million to help in preparation for elections later this
year. Luigi Einaudi, acting director general of the Organization of
American States told the Council Wednesday more than money will be
needed to create a system to register four and a half million Haitian
voters. "This will not be easy," he said. There are problems of
infrastructure, of security, of voter education that will need to be
handled. And let me simply say this is a critical moment." The Security
Council authorized a 7,000-strong peacekeeping force to help control
widespread violence last year after President Aristide's ouster.
Although the force, known as MINUSTAH, is far short of its authorized
strength, U.N. special envoy to Haiti Juan Gabriel Valdez said its
presence is contributing to a new sense of security in parts of Haiti.
"We are not saying security threats have ceased or that the security
agents have been disarmed," he noted. "We are not saying there are no
threats in the future. What we are saying is that as a result of recent
operations carried out by MINUSTAH we have a visible progress and we are
seeing a situation in which we don't see possibilities for attempts to
destabilize society or the government." Several ranking Latin American
and Caribbean diplomats joined in Wednesday's appeal for Haiti.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said at a time when world
attention is focused on tsunami victims, it is important to recall the
scope of Haiti's tragedy. "Haiti has suffered socio-economic tsunami for
the last 200 years," he explained. "And only in the last year there were
about 30,000 children who died in Haiti, so that in itself is as big as
for many countries in the tsunami." A statement approved at the end of
Wednesday's meeting reaffirmed the Security Council's long-term
commitment to Haiti. Previous short-term U.N. efforts to stabilize the
country were deemed failures. Diplomats say they expect the Haiti
peacekeeping force will be needed to maintain order in the country for
at least 20 years. http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-01-13-voa1.cfm


-- 
Daniel Craig
(212) 265-3800 /home
(718) 720-0202 /cell