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Contact:
George Jude
Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - After addressing St. Lucians in New York over
the weekend, on the occasion of the island’s 25th Independence Anniversary,
Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny D. Anthony returned to St. Lucia yesterday, only to
fly out to Jamaica for an emergency meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
on the situation in Haiti.
Being the Prime Minister in charge of governance within CARICOM and that St.
Lucia has invested heavily in Haiti, Dr. Anthony felt compelled to attend the
meeting in order to resolve outstanding issues.
Dr. Anthony attended a meeting at 3:00 p.m. local time today, chaired by
chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson.
The departure of Haitian President, Jean-Betrand Aristide early Sunday morning
has raised international concern, particularly within CARICOM. While, in
reacting to this latest development, Mr. Patterson said he would not sit around
the same table with Haitian rebel leaders who helped oust President Aristide, he
pointed out that this would not necessarily translate to a suspension of Haiti
from CARICOM.
In fact, when Haiti joined CARICOM in 1998, part of the ideal was to end that
country's years of isolation and help promote democracy. However, Haiti's future
in CARICOM came under question recently, as its opposition leaders insisted that
President Aristide resign and leave the country on a claim of corruption and
human rights abuses by his government.
The opposition leaders rejected CARICOM’s compromise that would have seen
President Aristide serve out the remaining two years of his term of office, but
share power with the opposition, while the international community helps it
prepare for elections.
When he returns later this week, Prime Minister Anthony will give a briefing on
St. Lucia’s position.
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