PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - The US State Department sent letters to some Caribbean countries "essentially demanding" that they recognise Haiti's interim government before regional leaders met for a summit in March, according to St Vincent's prime minister.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, speaking at a dinner for insurance executives in Trinidad on Saturday, criticised the State Department for sending the letter and said there is currently an "absence of political democracy and a limitation on people's freedoms" in Haiti.

During its summit in March, the 15-nation Caribbean Community withheld support for the new Haitian government and said it would consider the issue at its next meeting in July.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has also called for a UN investigation of the circumstances surrounding the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure from Haiti. Aristide says he was forced to resign by the United States, which denies the claim.
There was no immediate comment from the US State Department.

Gerald Latortute, Haiti's interim president, last month recalled his ambassador to Jamaica and announced a freeze on relationships with Caricom, after Jamaica decided to grant temporary asylum to Aristide, who had arrived in Jamaica from the Central African Republic where he was taken after being forced out of office. He had also failed to show up in Kingston for a weekend meeting with Jamaica's prime minister, P J Patterson.
Aristide, who was granted up to 10 weeks in Jamaica, is expected to leave soon to take up permanent asylum in South Africa.

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