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25319: Hermantin(news)Caribbean leaders, Rice discuss Haiti (fwd)
From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>
THE CARIBBEAN
Caribbean leaders, Rice discuss Haiti
In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Caribbean foreign
ministers vowed not to give up on Haiti.
By JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com
Caribbean Community foreign ministers on Monday vowed not to give up on Haiti
even as the regional bloc remains steadfast in its refusal to recognize Haiti's
interim government amid worsening violence that could derail the country's
upcoming elections.
The promise and a call for continued international support in helping Haiti
gain political stability came during separate private meetings with Canada's
foreign minister, Pierre Stewart Pettigrew, and U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice during the Organization of American States General Assembly in
Fort Lauderdale.
''We have to stay the course no matter how difficult that situation is in
Haiti, to move this situation forward,'' said Fred Mitchell, the Bahamas
foreign minister and head of the Caribbean Community's foreign minister
council.
Joined by more than a dozen of his Caribbean colleagues, Mitchell met with Rice
for a half-hour, raising concerns about various issues affecting the Caribbean
region.
''There is a ready and listening ear,'' Mitchell said of Rice, who sat across
from the delegation in an upstairs room at the Broward Convention Center. ``The
tone that was established was the right tone, and she's OK with all of the
issues -- natural disasters, security concerns, the passport issues, the
question of criminal deportees to the region -- all those were discussed in
some detail.''
But by far the most pressing issue was Haiti. Both sides agreed that despite
their differences on Haiti, the focus should be promoting free and fair
elections in the country later this year.
''Everybody agrees the common ground on that issue is there has to be
engagement,'' said Mitchell, noting that both sides also discussed the need for
a conference on the future of the Caribbean.
Following the forced departure of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in
February 2004, relations between the U.S. and the Caribbean Community, known as
CARICOM, have been strained.
CARICOM, which demanded an investigation into Aristide's ouster, has refused to
recognize Haiti's U.S.-backed interim government.
Monday's meeting with Rice was an attempt to mend differences in hopes of
having more regular talks with the United States. Both sides could sit down
again as early as September during the United Nation's General Assembly,
Caribbean leaders said. ''She was most grateful in responding to our
proposal,'' Jamaica Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Delano Franklyn said.
On the issue of Haiti, Franklyn said, Rice said she was extremely concerned
about the security situation and that ``she has been having discussions with
the foreign minister of Brazil, recognizing that Brazil has been leading the
charge on the ground to try and bring some stability.''
But while the meeting with Rice was described as friendly and receptive, the
breakfast meeting with Canadian and Haitian officials was ``intense.''
Haiti's Interim Foreign Minister Herard Abraham, who was not invited to the
Rice meeting, defended his government's work in moving the nation to elections
this fall. He later told The Herald that the interim government had helped the
electoral council register 4 million voters, and said he was hopeful Haiti and
CARICOM would one day see eye-to-eye.