Were OECS voices heard at the CARICOM heads of government summit in Jamaica?

By Ian Francis



It is approximately eight months since the summit of CARICOM heads was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Since then, Jamaica’s Bruce Golding has passed the torch to a struggling Tillman Thomas of Grenada, who might soon have to face a revolt of his National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Since assuming the chairmanship, Thomas has showed some interest in the organization and it will be interesting to watch how he handles the appointment of the new Secretary General for the Secretariat; appointment of a new Chief Justice for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and of course his own personal challenge of taking Grenada into the CCJ. These are interesting times and the region is watching closely.

The 56th Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) meeting recently held in Grenada seemed to have had great success. The only grumbling is that Antigua’s Baldwin spent too much time gazing in the skies hoping that the breakfast invitation from Barack and Michelle would arrive after a long pigeon journey from Washington to Mt Obama and then to the Botanical Gardens in Grenada. The pigeon arrived empty handed and a disappointed Baldwin lost interest in the Assembly.

With the growing popular uprisings in the Middle East, North Africa and Iran’s misguided decision to send naval ships through the waters of the Suez Canal, one can only assume that Washington is so engaged and concerned with these fast evolving events that the White House invitation will not arrive in the immediate future.

As Prime Minister Denzil Douglas of St Kitts and Nevis has stated, the leaders at the CARICOM inter sessional meeting that ended in Grenada recently needed to address their time in a process of careful analysis, deep discussions and the development of a strategic plan to guide the organization in future years. As Douglas lamented, he was hopeful that at the inter sessional meeting CARICOM leaders would channel their energy on the many issues facing the region.

While not dismissing Antigua’s concern about the popular uprising in Libya, the Republic of Haiti’s pending return by former president Aristide, who was kidnapped and forced into exile in South Africa, must be addressed by the region’s leaders. The despicable and vulgar action by the United States of America, which resulted in the abandonment of Aristide in a notorious and corrupt nation known as the Central African Republic, should have been strongly criticized by the CARICOM leadership.

Unfortunately, they went into mute mode and, like roosters, it took courage and principled leadership by former Jamaican prime minister; P.J.
Patterson to rescue Aristide from the corrupt African nation until South Africa was able to complete all logistical arrangements to welcome their new guest. PJ, Randy Robinson, Congresswoman Maxine Walters and others must be commended for rescuing Aristide from the Central African Republic.

The CARICOM leadership has no other alternative but to support Aristide’s pending return to his native Haiti. This is not the time to echo or repeat the voice of the United States State Department media frontline man P.J Crowley as to whether Aristide’s return will be helpful. Was Duvalier’s recent return to Haiti helpful? PJ Crawley should also give us a one liner about the State Department’s position on this notorious and repressive dictator whom the United States supported for many years. Aristide’s welcome must be hailed by our leaders to his native birth land and should even go further to ensure that the region becomes part of his security detail. This is the time to show the courage and leadership that Douglas called for and there should be no retreat. Aristide requires the region’s full support.

Since the rigged and shameless elections in Haiti. There are four frequent questions being asked about CARICOM’s Mission in Haiti. These are: (1) what is the specific role and purpose of the CARICOM Mission in Haiti? (2) What specific and concrete outcomes have been achieved by its presence and what specifically has the Georgetown Secretariat benefitted by virtue of their presence in Haiti? (3) Who is funding the CARICOM Mission in Haiti? (4) When will the Mission come to an end? What is the reporting mechanism? Who reports to whom and how are CARICOM governments engaged in this Mission? These questions need to be answered.

As the CARICOM inter sessional assembly became a reality in Grenada last weekend, there are still cries from OECS leaders expressing their concerns about uncontrollable crime and lawlessness in their jurisdiction.

At the Jamaica summit, Skerrit of Dominica and Spencer of Antigua suggested that Jamaica might be in a position to assist, given the nation’s experience with gangs and garrison control. Unfortunately, the suggestion fell on deaf ears. Many of the OECS have since retreated to their old colonial tactics of recruiting foreign sideline retired police officers to manage national security initiatives. The OECS region requires the active assistance and intervention of the More Developed Countries on crime and lawlessness in their jurisdiction.

In conclusion, drug interdiction and the presence of foreign fleets in our waters are important security measures; however, leaders need to identify other mechanisms that will rebuild capacities in our police forces and other security agencies. With a credible vision on crime, our leaders are also urged not to shy away from examining other key and important strategic security issues which include:

-- The role and function of IMPACS. Can this organization seriously contribute to the containment of crime and lawlessness in the CARICOM region or is it just another CARICOM regional organ that has found favour from foreign multilateral friends?

-- What can the Barbados based CEDERA contribute to crime containment and other national security issues? What direct and specific impact will the recent CARICOM agreement generate on crime and lawlessness in the region?

-- What is the current status of the Regional Security Service? Should this organization be re-examined or purged so thus resulting in a new and progressive organizational model that reflects global reality?

-- Can Jamaica assist in the restructuring of the Regional Security Service? How about Jamaica giving a secondment to the region by one of its capable national security team? Someone like Novelette Grant or Glenmore Hinds?

Crime and lawlessness need to be seriously tackled in the region.

Ian Francis resides in Toronto and writes frequently on Caribbean Commonwealth Affairs .He is a former Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada. He can be reached at info@vismincommunications.org

March 2, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

The Bahamas Prime Minister, Perry Christie Questions Aristide's Resignation

PM Questions Aristide's Resignation

Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

03/03/2004

 

 

Prime Minister Perry Christie on Tuesday stopped short of saying that circumstances surrounding the resignation of Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide were questionable.

 

"The Americans are saying they did not force him out," said Mr. Christie, who spoke to reporters at the Nassau International Airport before leaving for Jamaica.

 

Mr. Christie is expected to return home today after an emergency CARICOM meeting to discuss the future of Haiti and CARICOM's role in that future.

 

"The Americans are providing all of the documentary evidence, resignation [letter], and their accounts of what took place," the prime minister added. "Aristide is saying that he was forced out. All we know is that at 8pm on Saturday, the Foreign Minister of Jamaica spoke to President Aristide and at that stage he had no intention of leaving.

 

"Throughout that day and the day before he had declared to me that he had no intention of leaving, he would die first.  And so, on the face of it, I suppose we are in a position to presume that certain things took place that might not have been consistent with volunteering to go."

 

But Mr. Christie said that CARICOM was about seeking the facts.

 

"We have to sit as group of leaders and discuss these things very frankly, agree on the facts if we can," Mr. Christie said.

 

Mr. Aristide said in a live interview with CNN Monday night that he was forced out of Haiti, but it was a claim U.S. government officials flatly denied.

 

"I was told that to avoid bloodshed I'd better leave," Mr. Aristide said.

 

He said he was forced out of Haiti in a "real coup d'etat" led by the United States.

Mr. Aristide's resignation has brought into question the future of an accord between the Haitian and Bahamian governments that officials expected to sign soon. The agreement would allow Haitians who were in The Bahamas before January 1985 to be regularized.

 

"We expect that from our point of view business to continue and that for the accord to be signed at some stage in the future," Mr. Christie said, "Now, we put a question mark on it. It was negotiated by President Aristide and not by this new group of leaders. We do not know what will emerge...We do not know the extent to which the larger powers involved are directing what takes place in Haiti."

 

The prime minister also recognized that The Bahamas is in a delicate position given its role in CARICOM and its close ties to the United States of America. He said the interests of The Bahamas must be taken into consideration "for any final course of action we take."

 

Mr. Christie added that it is important for The Bahamas to "speak to the truth of what took place, but at the same time always recognize that we do not have the liberty to get on our horse and ride into the west with a sword in the right hand and one in the left hand."

 

"We have a responsibility to understand how events take place in the world and to always keep in balance what [is in] the best interest of our country," Mr. Christie said.

 

He said he planned to telephone Mr. Aristide some time between Tuesday and Wednesday, if that were at all possible.

 

Last reports placed Mr. Aristide in the Central African Republic.