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Caribbean leaders snub new Haitian government

The 15 nations of the Caribbean Community withheld recognition from Haiti's US-backed interim government yesterday as leaders closed a summit renewing calls for a UN investigation into the ouster of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Leaders said their minds were made up that for now Haiti's interim government would not get official recognition from their regional bloc.

"Right now we are not satisfied," St. Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said at the close of the two-day summit. "We are going to watch and see a number of things as they evolve."

The leaders issued a statement early yesterday saying "no action should be taken to legitimize the rebel forces."

They lamented interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue's recent statements hailing rebels as "freedom fighters" and saying he was freezing Haiti's participation in the regional bloc because of its stance on bringing Aristide to Jamaica for temporary exile.

"These developments have not made it possible to receive the interim administration in the councils of the community," the leaders said.

They said while Haiti remains a "welcome partner" in the Caribbean Community, "there has been an interruption of the democratic process."

The leaders said they would ask the UN General Assembly or Secretary-General Kofi Annan to oversee an investigation into Aristide's claims that he was abducted at gunpoint by US agents when he left Feb. 29 as rebels threatened to attack Haiti's capital.

The 11 leaders in attendance said it is in the international community's "compelling interest" to fully investigate the circumstances of Aristide's departure.

US officials say they organized his departure on a charter to the Central African Republic at his own request and probably saved his life by escorting him away.

The Caribbean Community stressed "the importance of holding free and fair elections to ensure a return to constitutional democracy in an acceptable time frame."

Latortue has said he hopes to organize legislative elections in six to eight months; it was unclear whether that would be acceptable.

St. Kitts Prime Minister Denzil Douglas said the community plans to deal directly with "the Haitian people" through the UN and other agencies.

Leaders said they would take up the issue of whether to recognize the government again at a summit in July in Grenada.

"We can't determine this issue at this meeting," Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning said as he left. He added that discussions were "quite tense."

Several officials said leaders were under enormous US pressure to recognize the new government.

Delegates said the 15-nation bloc wants the General Assembly to investigate Aristide's departure rather than the Security Council, where the US or France could veto the proposal.

Caribbean leaders declined to participate in the current US-led international force, incensed that the Security Council refused their urgent plea to send troops in time to save Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected leader.

Nevertheless, Manning said Trinidad will send 121 soldiers to join a separate UN humanitarian force in about two months. Other Caribbean countries are expected to follow.

In Haiti, meanwhile, the interim government announced it will block dozens of ex-members of Aristide's government from leaving the country, including former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune.
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