PJ Patterson

Jamaica yesterday warned Haiti's interim leader, Gerard Latortue, that he is more likely to hurt his own country than the region by his declared freeze on relations with the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

At the same time, Prime Minister P J Patterson yesterday betrayed scepticism of the emerging accusations from "our erstwhile partners" against Haiti's overthrown leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, when they were not so long ago willing to sit with him in hemispheric councils.

Patterson did not name the partners to whom he referred, nor the specific allegations they have raised against Aristide. But there was little doubt that his reference was to the United States, Canada and France which, in recent weeks, have criticised not only Aristide's quality of governance while he held office but has sought to link his administration to drug trafficking and thievery.

"There is machinery within our hemispheric institutions, when such allegations can be substantiated, for a process to be triggered whereby a final determination is made," Patterson told Parliament in response to questions from Opposition Leader Edward Seaga.

". If the verdict is unfavourable then both by the declaration to which we have subscribed in the Quebec Summit and by the provisions of the democratic charter of the OAS, such a leader would be considered unfit to precipitate in the deliberation of our hemispheric body," he added.

Patterson's retort came after he had made a statement to the House on Jamaica's and Caricom's involvement in the Haitian decision to allow Aristide to stay in Jamaica for up to 10 weeks - a decision that drew criticism from the United States and was branded as an "unfriendly act" by Latortue.

In retaliation, Latortue said he was withdrawing Haiti's ambassador to Jamaica and putting on hold its relationship with the Community, which his country joined in 1998.

"Although we have not received any official communication to this effect from Haitian authorities, any such action can only have negative consequences for the long-term economic and social development of the Haitian people," Patterson told legislators.

Caricom, a 15-member economic and political bloc, currently chaired by Patterson, felt itself betrayed by the United States, France and Canada over their behaviour in the Haitian crisis.
Having initially supported a Community initiative that would have kept Aristide in office for the remaining two years of his presidency but cause him to share power with the Opposition, the Western troika jettisoned the plan and joined Opposition groups in demanding his resignation.

Aristide has claimed that he was all but kidnapped by US forces on February 29 and bundled out of the country to the Central African Republic until his return to Jamaica on Monday. The United States had vehemently denied the claim and said that it was at Aristide's request it provided security and transportation for him to leave Haiti ahead of advancing rebels.

Although Caricom initially called for an international investigation into the manner of Aristide's departure, it has since recognised the situation on the ground in Haiti and Patterson made clear that Aristide's stay in Jamaica was on humanitarian grounds. It was to allow the ousted president and wife Mildred to reunite with their two young children.

"I made it clear to Mr Aristide that I did not expect him to use his stay in Jamaica to engage in any political or other activities inimical to the fragile stability and order which were being established in Haiti," Patterson told the House. ". I anticipate that he will use his time here in Jamaica to finalise arrangements for the relocation of his family and himself to another country which is prepared to receive him on a long-term basis."

In the aftermath of his Parliamentary statement, Patterson was asked by Seaga if it had come to the attention of Caricom that there were grounds laid down by the Haitian Opposition why they did not want Aristide to remain in office.
The prime minister's response was that there were a number of allegations made, which perhaps could be summed up "in the simple term, that they did not trust Aristide".

"It is not an unusual allegation for persons in Opposition to make of any duly constituted government," Patterson said.

Asked by Seaga whether Caricom had a back-up in the event the initiative they had placed on the table failed, Patterson said what was proposed, in the opinion of the Community, had "all the ingredients" to preserve the constitutional framework of Haiti, promote democratic governance and create a situation where free and fair elections could be held in an atmosphere of stability.

"We were prepared, after discussions, had the Opposition parties brought proposals to the table, to consider the effect of those proposals, but there were certain fundamental principles which we made clear from the start," Patterson said. "That is to say, we were never going to support a coup d'etat, in any shape or form.

"...We did make it clear, however, that if in the event President Aristide chose voluntarily to submit his resignation then that was a reality with which we would have to deal and the provision within the Constitution would then have to be triggered and come into effect."

The sticking point with the Haitian Opposition, Patterson explained to Seaga, was their insistence of the removal of Aristide before the expiry of his term in February 2006.

"We, for our part, made it clear that we did not intend to be a party to seeking to remove president Aristide from office prematurely and, I would say that when the group met in Washington (in mid-February) that was a position to which the US, Canada, and the OAS fully subscribed and which was conveyed by representatives of those governments and institutions to Haiti and supported by an invitation that we who were a party to those proposals would provide a guarantee to ensure that they would work effectively," Patterson said.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World