30392: (news) Chamberlain: EU pledges 233 million euros to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Manuel Jimenez

    SANTO DOMINGO, April 20 (Reuters) - The European Union on Friday
pledged 233 million euros ($303 million) in aid for impoverished Haiti and
said it would raise the grant by 25 percent if the chaotic Caribbean
country managed to improve its governability.
     EU officials, meeting with the Rio Group of Latin American nations in
Santo Domingo, also vowed to support cross-border development projects
between Haiti and its more developed and prosperous neighbor, the Dominican
Republic.
     The aid for Haiti, afflicted for years by political instability and
struggling since the February 2004 ouster of former president Jean-Bertrand
Aristide with violent crime, would help develop infrastructure sorely
lacking in the country of 8 million, said the European Commissioner for
External relations and Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
     It would also fund education, rural programs and the establishment of
government institutions.
     In all, the European Commission has proposed a 5.5-billion-euro aid
package for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2001-2013. Of that 2.7
billion euros would be in grants and 2.8 billion in development loans.
     Ferrero-Waldner said the EU had been paying attention to developments
in Haiti, where a U.N. force has tried to keep the peace since shortly
after Aristide was driven into exile by an armed revolt. President Rene
Preval's election last year has raised hopes for peace and stability.
     The EU donated 300 million euros to Haiti between 2002-2007, the
commissioner said.
     Haiti's foreign relations minister, Jean Reynald Clerisme, thanked the
EU at the meeting and said Haiti "would do everything possible to make sure
we do not disappoint you."
     The meeting in Santo Domingo also addressed trade talks between Latin
American nations and the EU, the drug trade, other security issues and
climate change. Next year's meeting is due to take place in Peru.