AEGiS-Miami Herald: At Caribbean summit, focus on Haiti: The 25th annual summit of Caribbean governmental heads began Sunday with discussions about Haiti's suspension from the group and regional development.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

At Caribbean summit, focus on Haiti: The 25th annual summit of Caribbean governmental heads began Sunday with discussions about Haiti's suspension from the group and regional development.

Miami Herald - July 5, 2004
Michael A.W. Ottey, mottey@herald.com

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada - The heads of government of Caribbean nations opened a summit here on Sunday, noting growing challenges such as helping Haiti and improving economic development and healthcare throughout the region.

Leaders at the 25th conference of heads of government of the Caribbean Community -- the bloc of nations known as CARICOM -- wasted no time in addressing common concerns.

The leaders quickly took on the issue of Haiti, a member state the group suspended after the Feb. 29 ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide, exiled in South Africa, blames France and the United States for his ouster.

The absence of Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue as well as the Haitian flag from a presentation of member state flags during an opening ceremony did not go unnoticed.

Before CARICOM wraps up its summit on Wednesday, it is expected to decide whether to recognize Haiti's interim government and allow the nation back into the fold.

Some nations are ready to put the matter behind them, while others are not so sure.

Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who allowed Aristide to stay in Jamaica for several weeks while he awaited word from South Africa, was pointed in his remarks.

"As we seek to chart the way forward, let us not leave behind the fundamental principles which are our compass," Patterson told the gathering. "We need to be assured that there be no sacrifice of the rights of all citizens in this, our CARICOM family, to exercise their own democratic option and to be able to secure the due protection of law. The world is watching. The people of Haiti are waiting on us as we make our decision here. Whatever we decide, we must continue to assist in the economic and social well-being of that long-beleaguered nation."

He said CARICOM was continuing to promote Haiti's case for substantial financial resources from the World Bank, the European Union and other international development agencies.

CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington also touched on some of the challenges the region faces.

"For example, decisive and sustained regional action is required if we are to deal successfully with the growing problem of HIV/AIDS and its devastating impact on Caribbean social life and our human and economic resources."

Baldwin Spencer, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, took the United Kingdom and the United States to task over the "threat to our societies of the alarming influx of seasoned criminals deported from the United States and the United Kingdom."

"Some of those deportees have spent virtual lifetimes in the exporting countries," Spencer said. "Now . . . they are being deposited in societies in which they have only the most tenuous family connections, if any at all."

The summit continues through Wednesday.

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