8167: GISC says Lavalas should not negotiate with international community (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <maxblanchet@worldnet.att.net>

 1.   Haiti: GISC says Lavalas should not negotiate with international
community


Haiti: GISC says Lavalas should not negotiate with international community
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jun 2, 2001


Text of report by Haitian Metropole radio on 1 June

The Civil Society Initiative Group [GISC] are waiting for the publication of
the new proposals made by the Lavalas Family to the OAS [Organization of
American States] for a way out of the crisis. The GISC members said that
this new initiative on the crisis will depend on the contents of the letter
that President Aristide sent to the permanent council of the OAS. They think
that the OAS-Caricom [Caribbean Community and Common Market] mission was not
a success. Professor Rosny Desroches said the following:

[Desroches] The only thing I would say is that we heard that a proposal from
the Presidency was handed to the OAS secretary-general [Cesar Gaviria] at
the end of the mission. I believe that we should wait to see the contents of
this proposal. Up to now, all we are hearing is rumours. Certain people
speak of the contested senatorial seats and others speak of the annulment of
the 2000 legislative elections. Therefore, we really should wait to see what
the proposal is about. If there is a proposal on the negotiating table, I
think that we should consider it calmly to see if it is a solution that can
be taken into account and if it is a solution that can be envisaged and
possibly amended. We understand that the OAS wants Haiti's civil society to
continue to exert pressure so that a settlement can be reached. What is
important to us is that there is an agreement. Without an agreement, there
will be no true unblocking of the political situation.

[Unidentified journalist] Meanwhile, what is the GISC going to do once the
OAS mission has left?

[Desroches] The first thing is that we want to learn the contents of that
letter. Once we have that, we shall know exactly what to do.

[Journalist] Apparently, Lavalas seems to want to negotiate directly with
the international community, while ignoring the local partners. Do you think
that is a good method?

[Desroches] I think that it would be a serious mistake, because the main
protagonists are not the international organizations. The people who are
mainly concerned are the Haitian people, Haitian society and the Haitian
political class. Therefore, it would be a serious mistake by the current
power to neglect, despise and ignore the Haitian community, to the benefit
of the international community.

Source: Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French 1145 gmt 1 Jun 01

/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.