Caribbean Leaders Withhold Haiti Backing (good news)

[donsu]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&e=4&u=/ap/20040327/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/caribbean_summit

The 15-nation Caribbean Community withheld recognition from Haiti's U.S.-backed interim government Saturday as leaders closed a summit renewing calls for a U.N. investigation into the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

-snip-

Several officials said the regional bloc was under enormous U.S. pressure to recognize the new government, which was appointed after Aristide fled on Feb. 29 amid a popular uprising.


"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."

-snip-

They said while Haiti remains a "welcome partner" in the Caribbean Community, "there has been an interruption of the democratic process."
-snip-
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yes, indeed things are 'evolving'

[seemslikeadream]

1. I don't think they like who is in control right now!

The departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from Haiti on Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, leaves a power vacuum in Haiti. Players in recent political events are shown from left, Andy Apaid Jr., Boniface Alexandre, Louis-Jodel Chamblain, Evans Paul, Guy Philippe and Butteur Metayer. (AP Photos/Files)



Andre Apaid, one of the opposition leaders, speaks during a news conference in Hotel Villa Creole, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday Feb. 23, 2004. (AP Photo/Pablo Aneli)



The interim President of Haiti, Bonface Alexandre, left and the new Prime Minister of Haiti, Gerard Latortue sit during the ceremony to announce their new cabinet at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Wednesday March 17, 2004.(AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)



Evans Paul, a leader with Haiti's opposition Democratic Platform speaks during a news conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004. Opposition leaders rejected a U.S.-backed peace plan for Haiti that would have Jean-Bertrand Aristide remain as president but share power with political rivals. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)



Haitian rebel leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain is seen in front of the burning police station of Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2004. Rebels on Sunday seized the government's last major bastion in the north, Cap-Haitien, shooting off celebratory rounds in the air as people looted and several torched buildings sent a pall of black smoke over the city. (AP Photo/Walter Astrada)



Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe speaks with a rebel soldier in front of the Mont Joli Hotel in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Monday, Feb. 23, 2004. Rebels who overran Haiti's second-largest city of Cap-Haitien began detaining people identified as supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Monday and said they would attack the capital Port-au-Prince soon. (AP Photo/Walter Astrada)



Haitian rebel leader Buteur Metayer holds his arms up in the city of Gonaives, February 19, 2004. (Reuters/Daniel Aguilar)

And our guy what would the Haitians do without him



Roger Noriega, center, top U.S. envoy for the Western Hemisphere, attends a news conference at the Montana Hotel, Port- au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, Feb 21, 2004. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide agreed Saturday to a U.S.-backed peace plan calling for shared power with political opponents, a new prime minister and fresh legislative elections. (AP Photo/Pablo Aneli).

[seemslikeadream]

2. Haitian Cabinet studies ways to disarm gunmen

AP , PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
Friday, Mar 26, 2004,Page 6
Haiti's new Cabinet met for the first time Wednesday to discuss myriad woes including the urgent need to disarm gunmen in the traumatized nation where rebels, street gangs and escaped convicts terrorize much of the land despite the presence of hundreds of US-led peacekeepers.

Haitian police officers are among those accused of fueling the turmoil, with a report Wednesday that five officers have been detained on suspicion of killing five supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's party.

According to the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, relatives of the victims, aged 17 to 24, said the officers rounded up and executed the men over the weekend. It said the officers were detained Monday but no charges had been filed.

US Marine Major Richard Crusan confirmed the five were detained.

Police were accused of brutalizing opponents of Aristide, who fled the country Feb. 29 as a three-week popular rebellion neared Port-au-Prince, the capital. Scores of police were among more than 300 people killed, and hundreds fled before the rebels, who torched police stations and freed thousands of convicts.


http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/03/26/2003107811