While not going officially on record, Ministers of the Christie Government are privately condemning the U.S. action.
Prime Minister Perry Christie is scheduled to meet today with other CARICOM heads in Jamaica to discuss the next course of action in the face of mounting criticism against the United States of America.
In a statement on Sunday, Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, who is chairman of CARICOM, said that “we are bound to question whether his resignation was truly voluntary, as it comes after the capture of sections of Haiti by armed insurgents and the failure of the international community to provide the requisite support.”
“The removal of President Aristide in these circumstances sets a dangerous precedent for democratically elected governments anywhere and everywhere, as it promotes the removal of duly elected persons from office by power of rebel forces,” Mr. Patterson said.
Mr. Aristide, in a live telephone interview with CNN, last night said he was forced out of Haiti by U.S. officials.
“I was told that to avoid bloodshed I’d better leave,” he said.
But White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan denied that the United States forced the Haitian President into exile.
“I’ve seen some of the reports [and they] do nothing to help the Haitians move forward to a better, more prosperous future,” Mr. McClellan said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday that he wished not to comment on the kidnapping claim as he had no facts.
He also said The Bahamas must maintain relations with Haiti with a view to re-opening the embassy in that country as soon as possible and continuing to assist with the restoration of peace and stability in the crisis-stricken nation.
Despite CARICOM’s Action Plan to maintain the constitutionally elected President of Haiti being abandoned, Minister Mitchell said the Caribbean Community must continue its efforts in that country.
He said President Aristide’s departure into exile did not spell failure for the CARICOM plan.
“The facts are what they are and you have to work with whatever those facts are,” Minister Mitchell said. “Clearly CARICOM had a particular plan and believed that it ought to have been executed in a particular way, but sometimes things don’t happen in that way.
“The whole question is how do you go forward because CARICOM knows that 10 years ago you had this same sort of crisis in Haiti and now we’re dealing with a similar crisis and you have to keep asking yourself why does this keep happening in Haiti,” he added.
In addition to the multi-lateral talks that the Bahamian delegation will participate in in Jamaica, The Bahamas will also have to review its future bilateral relationship with Haiti, Minister Mitchell said.
“The Bahamas has to consider what its particular situation is notwithstanding its role in CARICOM,” Minister Mitchell said. “We’re the only CARICOM country with an embassy in Port-au-Prince and we’d like to get the embassy up and open as soon as possible and get the ambassador and his staff back on the ground as soon as it is deemed safe to do so and we know who we are dealing with.
“The mood is that, clearly, from a pragmatic level we have to continue to engage because Haiti is not going away, CARICOM is not going away and The Bahamas is not going away,” he added.
Minister Mitchell also addressed recent questions about Haiti’s future role in CARICOM.
“I deal with the facts as they are and Haiti is a part of CARICOM so that’s that,” he said. “I’m not sure if it’s useful for a government to say whether it’s good or not for Haiti to be a part of CARICOM, but the policy is what it is – Haiti is a member and the question is where do we go from here.”
The Bahama Journal
