CARICOM'S 'HOT' POLITICAL AGENDA
Haiti relations, CSME, CCJ and governance
By Rickey Singh
Guyana Chronicle
March 21, 2004
WHEN the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community gather this week in Basseterre, capital of St. Kitts and Nevis, four major issues of utmost regional importance will be quite prominent on the agenda for what will be their 15th Inter-Sessional Meeting.
Though not necessarily in the following order on what will be a very demanding agenda for the March 25-26 meeting, those issues are:
*First, review of CARICOM-Haiti relations as a direct consequence of the circumstances surrounding the dramatic removal from office on February 29 of Jean Bertrand Aristide as the lawfully elected President, and subsequent related developments.
*Secondly, the status of arrangements for the expected inauguration by January 2005 of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), or at least its single market component.
*Thirdly, the launch of the much debated Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), an institution integral to the functioning of the CSME; and
*Fourthly, `options’ for relevant and effective governance of CARICOM, based on the proposed creation of a high-powered Commission with executive authority, or some similar mechanism.
So far as the issue of CARICOM-Haiti relations is concerned, the Community leaders would be quite mindful of subtle, as well as crude attempts in both Washington and post-Aristide Port-au-Prince, to change the focus from what had inspired their emergency summit in Kingston that resulted in a very important collective position on March 3.
That emergency summit, presided over by Prime Minister P. J. Patterson as CARICOM chairman, and including leaders like Barbados's Owen Arthur, Guyana's Bharrat Jagdeo, Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning and St. Lucia's Kenny Anthony, had expressed deep concern over the "dangerous precedent" that the controversial ousting of Aristide may have set for "democratically elected governments".
The leaders also decided to request an independent investigation under the auspices of the United Nations to determine whether the lawfully elected Haitian President voluntarily resigned, or was forced out of power.
Changing focus
The USA and France continue to deny involvement in the anti-Aristide coup plot that converged with both the agenda of former army officers and known criminals engaged in an armed rebellion, and the demands for his resignation by an expedient alliance of opposition parties and civil society groups.
Since Aristide's downfall, flight into brief exile in the Central African Republic and his return to the Caribbean to be temporarily hosted with his family in Jamaica, the Washington-sanctioned interim regime in Port-au-Prince, with Gerard La Tortue as Prime Minister, have been systematically seeking, along with senior officials of the George Bush administration, to change the focus from how Aristide lost power, to why he is being accommodated in Jamaica, just some 130 miles away from his crisis-ridden homeland.
First, it is more than ridiculous that the Bush administration, which continues to prevent Haitian refugees arriving on its shores, and which is known to have maintained a most uncooperative attitude, if not hostile, towards the Aristide presidency, should be raising questions about the political correctness of a sovereign Caribbean nation like Jamaica granting the request of an out-of-power Caribbean leader to spend some time in that country.
Patterson did not have to secure CARICOM's approval to make his decision on Aristide's request for temporary stay in Jamaica. But he did communicate that decision with a number of Community leaders - as well as the USA, Canada and France - prior to making his public announcement about the arrival in his country last Monday of the ousted Haitian President.
Among CARICOM leaders contacted would have been those who were closely involved in the working group, headed by Patterson, to promote a peaceful resolution to the then prevailing governance crisis in Haiti. That group comprised the Prime Ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas and St. Lucia.
The second and related development of significance was the surprise announcement by interim Prime Minister La Tortue - fresh from being sworn in by interim President, Boniface Alexandre, who is yet to be endorsed by an absent parliament - that he had decided to "put to sleep", freeze Haiti's membership relations with CARICOM.
This was amusing, to say the least. An interim Prime Minister whose interim regime is not recognised by CARICOM, and evidently acting under the influence of his foreign sponsors, suddenly severing Haiti's relations with the Caribbean Community.
He may be a creature of what is known as the `doctrine of necessity’, but he has shown very little sensitivity to the concerns about his legitimacy.
Ironically, this is the same La Tortue who had benefitted from temporary asylum in Jamaica when he fled Haiti under the then rule of President Francois Duvalier.
Legitimate concerns
La Tortue would only have compounded concerns about his own legitimacy in severing Haiti's relations with CARICOM when he announced the first post-Aristide cabinet and talked boldly about "unity" and a "new beginning".
In doing so, he ignored the implications of total exclusion of any representation from Aristide’s Lavalas Party which, for all its faults, remain visibly popular among the poverty-stricken Haitian masses.
Given the prevailing circumstances, therefore, the issue now is neither whether Aristide should be temporarily based in Jamaica; nor if CARICOM should press ahead with its declared decision for an international probe into the circumstances of his sudden departure from office on February 29.
Rather, whether the Community could now properly deal with an interim regime of questionable legitimacy in Port-au-Prince and, by extension, continue business as usual with Haiti as a member.
The answer - which I think I already know - should be forthcoming by the conclusion of this week's two-day Inter-sessional Meeting in Basseterre, though in politics surprises abound.
There seems, however, less certainty about much needed progress on vital issues like CSME-readiness; the date for inauguration of the CCJ, and time-frame for establishment of an effective governance mechanism such as the proposed CARICOM Commission.
Amid the negative atmosphere in Barbados-Trinidad and Tobago trade relations, the Third CSME Consultation that should have taken place from March 11-12, was again postponed at the request of host country, Barbados.
Indeed there are growing concerns, at various levels, over the future of the CSME. It is my understanding that for all their rhetoric about "advancing arrangements" a number of Community governments are yet to introduce the relevant legislation in their parliament to help make the CSME a reality.
Further, at least two of them are yet to sign and submit to the Caribbean Development Bank required documents pertaining to the raising on the international money market of some US$100 million to finance the CCJ.
This week's meeting in Basseterre, therefore, cannot waste time in meaningless rhetoric but come up with some precise details on arrangements for the CSME and the CCJ, even if they do not have the time to properly deal with the options proposed for effective governance of the Community's business.