a711: Caricom representative denies Caricom biased towards Lavalasgovernment

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Haiti: Caricom representative denies Caricom biased
towards Lavalas government
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 9, 2002



Text of report by Haitian Signal FM radio on 8
February

The Caribbean Common Market [Caricom] denied having a
biased position, that it is a bias in favour of the
Lavalas government. Caricom asked the international
authorities to release funds so the Aristide
government can get the Haitian people out of extreme
poverty. The Caricom representative in Haiti hastened
to give a news conference yesterday to say that they
are not biased and that they are just defending the
interests of the Haitian people.

The Caricom representative in Haiti said that they are
the good friends of the Haitian people and that they
do not favour the Lavalas Family. He said that they
would like the Haitian people to get out of extreme
poverty through the release of funds that could be
used for development projects, to reduce the high cost
of living and to solve all of the other problems faced
by the Haitian people today.

We recall that in a statement adopted at the
conclusion of the regional organization's summit this
week in Belize, 14 heads of states gathered within
Caricom expressed their support for the
recommendations made by the OAS about the necessity
for the international authorities to send an
international independent mission to Haiti to
investigate the events of 17 December 2001 in order to
restore trust among all political parties, given that
the opposition gathered within the Democratic
Convergence has said that, as long as light is not
shed on the events of 17 December, they will not
negotiate with Aristide.

The Caricom representative in Haiti has rejected the
rumours. An excerpt from the statement by Edward
Alexander, Caricom's representative to Haiti, follows:

[Alexander - recording, in English with phrase by
phrase translation into French] Among the
recommendations approved by the heads of governments,
an independent international commission of inquiry
should be established sufficiently (broadened) to
engender confidence in its evaluation of the events of
17 December 2001. [words indistinct] that Caricom in
collaboration with other international agencies would
assist Haiti's efforts to strengthen the democratic
process, particularly as it relates to the
independence of the judiciary, the professionalism of
the police force and the rule of law in Haiti...

Source: Signal FM Radio, Port-au-Prince, in Creole
1230 gmt 8 Feb 02

/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.



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