US-CARICOM stand-off on HAITI puts two meetings on hold
By Rickey Singh
Guyana Chronicle
April 25, 2004
BRIDGETOWN - A United States-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) stand-off on Haiti could affect two scheduled forthcoming meetings between the Community and representatives of the George Bush administration.
A meeting of officials, planned for St. Vincent and the Grenadines for Thursday, April 29, as well as a high-level meeting on crime and security in The Bahamas on May 3, are now in jeopardy.
In what some Foreign Ministers and officials of CARICOM have variously deemed Washington's "arrogance" and "bullying tactics", the Bush administration has warned against US participation in any meeting with CARICOM without prior inclusion of the interim regime in Haiti in the councils of the Community.
The communiqué released yesterday on the two-day meeting in Barbados of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) that ended Friday evening, makes no direct reference to the US-CARICOM conflict over Haiti.
But speaking off the record, Foreign Ministers of three Community states, and various officials, have informed the Sunday Chronicle that the discussions at the COFCOR meeting revealed "a consensus" that CARICOM was in no mood to be "dictated" to on when and why it should allow participation in the councils of the community by the post-Aristide interim Haitian regime.
First, in relation to this week's scheduled meeting of officials in Kingstown, St. Vincent, Washington had requested significant changes to the agenda with removal of security and financial issues, then later raised doubts about the meeting taking place.
Of more significance to the Community, said Foreign Ministers who did not wish to be identified, was when representatives of the Bush administration signalled in telephone conversations that the scheduled high-level meeting in The Bahamas on May 3 was dependent on CARICOM's official recognition of the interim Haitian regime
Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, who has lead responsibility for security among CARICOM leaders, was identified at last month's Inter-Sessional Meeting in St. Kitts to lead the Community's team of Ministers of National Security for The Bahamas talks with US Secretary for Homeland Security, Tom Ridge.
If the US insists on its demand for CARICOM's "recognition" or "engagement" with the interim regime in Port-au-Prince before the Community Heads of Government are ready to make such a decision, said one Foreign Minister, "I can tell you that the meeting with Mr. Ridge will not take place".
The draft agenda prepared for that meeting covered issues of mutual interest such as security, crime, continued deportation by the US of criminals, border security, maritime cooperation and justice-related matters, as well as the global war on terrorism.
In reporting on the Foreign Ministers discussions on Haiti, the communiqué said that they reviewed "issues relating to the representation of Haiti within the Community and how best representatives of Haiti and the interim administration could re-establish a dialogue that could lead to a normalisation of relations..."
The Foreign Ministers also said that arrangements were being advanced for CARICOM's participation in a proposed United Nations Stabilisation Mission possibly by July.
In addition to placing on hold the interim Haitian regime's participation in the councils of the Community, while Haiti remains a member state, CARICOM has called for early restoration of constitutional governance in Haiti, based on free and fair elections.
It also maintains its position for an independent probe - possibly involving the United Nations or the Organisation of American States - into the circumstances of the dramatic departure from power on February 29 by President Jean Bertrand Aristide in the face of an armed rebellion, widespread violence and chaos.