25319: Hermantin(news)Caribbean leaders, Rice discuss Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

THE CARIBBEAN
Caribbean leaders, Rice discuss Haiti
In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Caribbean foreign 
ministers vowed not to give up on Haiti.
By JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

Caribbean Community foreign ministers on Monday vowed not to give up on Haiti 
even as the regional bloc remains steadfast in its refusal to recognize Haiti's 
interim government amid worsening violence that could derail the country's 
upcoming elections.

The promise and a call for continued international support in helping Haiti 
gain political stability came during separate private meetings with Canada's 
foreign minister, Pierre Stewart Pettigrew, and U.S. Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice during the Organization of American States General Assembly in 
Fort Lauderdale.

''We have to stay the course no matter how difficult that situation is in 
Haiti, to move this situation forward,'' said Fred Mitchell, the Bahamas 
foreign minister and head of the Caribbean Community's foreign minister 
council.

Joined by more than a dozen of his Caribbean colleagues, Mitchell met with Rice 
for a half-hour, raising concerns about various issues affecting the Caribbean 
region.

''There is a ready and listening ear,'' Mitchell said of Rice, who sat across 
from the delegation in an upstairs room at the Broward Convention Center. ``The 
tone that was established was the right tone, and she's OK with all of the 
issues -- natural disasters, security concerns, the passport issues, the 
question of criminal deportees to the region -- all those were discussed in 
some detail.''

But by far the most pressing issue was Haiti. Both sides agreed that despite 
their differences on Haiti, the focus should be promoting free and fair 
elections in the country later this year.

''Everybody agrees the common ground on that issue is there has to be 
engagement,'' said Mitchell, noting that both sides also discussed the need for 
a conference on the future of the Caribbean.

Following the forced departure of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 
February 2004, relations between the U.S. and the Caribbean Community, known as 
CARICOM, have been strained.

CARICOM, which demanded an investigation into Aristide's ouster, has refused to 
recognize Haiti's U.S.-backed interim government.

Monday's meeting with Rice was an attempt to mend differences in hopes of 
having more regular talks with the United States. Both sides could sit down 
again as early as September during the United Nation's General Assembly, 
Caribbean leaders said. ''She was most grateful in responding to our 
proposal,'' Jamaica Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
Delano Franklyn said.

On the issue of Haiti, Franklyn said, Rice said she was extremely concerned 
about the security situation and that ``she has been having discussions with 
the foreign minister of Brazil, recognizing that Brazil has been leading the 
charge on the ground to try and bring some stability.''

But while the meeting with Rice was described as friendly and receptive, the 
breakfast meeting with Canadian and Haitian officials was ``intense.''

Haiti's Interim Foreign Minister Herard Abraham, who was not invited to the 
Rice meeting, defended his government's work in moving the nation to elections 
this fall. He later told The Herald that the interim government had helped the 
electoral council register 4 million voters, and said he was hopeful Haiti and 
CARICOM would one day see eye-to-eye.