Latortue. my government has never announced any suspension or breaking off of relations between Haiti and Caricom

BASSETERRE, St Kitts - Caricom leaders yesterday spurned the bid by Haiti's interim government for formal recognition, having, according to officials, judged as vague, insufficient and disingenuous the attempt by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue to clarify his withering attacks on the Community.

Regional leaders, in a position finally arrived at about 2:00 am Saturday, said they would review their position at their regular summit in Grenada in July, but made clear that formal recognition of the administration in Port-au-Prince would be on the basis of a "return to constitutional and representative democracy".

But while not recognising Latortue's government and giving it Haiti's place in the councils of the regional economic and political bloc, Caribbean leaders said that they would, in collaboration with the international community, remain "engaged" with the authorities on behalf of the Haitian people.

At the same time, the leaders made clear that they would press ahead with their call early this month for a United Nations investigation into the circumstances under which ousted Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, left the country on February 29.

Aristide insists that he was subject of a "political kidnapping" as part of a coup d'etat instigated by the United States and supported by France and Canada.
But the Americans say that they, at his request, provided Aristide with security and passage out of Haiti after he had resigned on his own volition.

The decision by the Caribbean Community leaders came despite intense behind-the-scenes pressure from the Bush administration to embrace the interim regime and an 11th hour effort by Latortue to, according to one senior regional official, "deny and wiggle out of his clear statements of denunciation of Caricom in general and at least one member state in particular".

Angered by Caricom's posture on the Haitian issue and Jamaica's decision to give temporary asylum to Aristide, Latortue had accused the Community of having, over time, hurt Haiti, and told reporters in English, French and Creole interviews that he would freeze relations with the regional bloc, which Haiti joined in 1998.
He also boycotted a meeting he had requested with Prime Minister P J Patterson and said that he would withdraw Haiti's ambassador in Kingston over what he described as Jamaica's "unfriendly act".

But last week, Latortue did an about-face and asked to attend the Bassetterre summit to present his case for recognition. He was told to repudiate his attacks on Caricom.
In a March 25 letter to Caricom Secretary-General Edwin Carrington, a copy of which was obtained by the Sunday Observer, Latortue claimed never to have attacked the Community or any member state.

"My government has never announced and has no intention of announcing any putting to sleep, suspension or breaking off of relations between Haiti and Caricom or any of its member states," Latortue said in his letter.
"Therefore, there is no cause to repudiate nor to go back on any decision which has never been taken. It would be regrettable if these misinterpretations or errors in translation of statements made in Creole or in French, should alter relations which need to be developed..."

Regional officials, however, say that it will require more than words on Latortue's part to convince Caricom leaders who were disappointed that he, a week ago, shared a platform in the Haitian town of Gonaives with rebels whom he hailed as "liberators" for their role in helping to oust Aristide.
But so intense was the pressure from Washington that Caricom embrace the interim government, reliable regional sources say, that one prime minister felt obliged to refuse to take a telephone call from a Bush administration official.

Another was aggravated enough to respond with expletives when presented with what was viewed as a virtual ultimatum.
Possible cuts in aid and trade benefits also surfaced, as well as a warnings that regional governments could be held accountable for any continued unrest by pro-Aristide factions which cause hurt to US soldiers, the sources said.
US officials in the region were not immediately available for comment.

Concern over possible reprisals, it is believed, was in part responsible for Caricom's declaration that it will collaborate with the African Union, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries, other hemispheric allies and international groups in pursuing its Haiti agenda.
Caricom's programme on Haiti will include assistance "in those areas where it has the capacity", and Carrington is to establish a task force to co-ordinate the effort.

The Caricom Core Group of Prime Ministers on Haiti, which was led by Patterson, has been reconstituted under the chairmanship of Antigua and Barbuda's new prime minister and the Community's in-coming chairman, Baldwin Spencer.
The other members are Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning; The Bahamas' Perry Christie; St Lucia's Kenny Anthony; and Jamaica's Patterson, on whom his colleagues heaped praise for his management of the crisis.

- The Sunday Observer's Kingston staff contributed to this story

Mothers can't father

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'