Caribbean leaders were expected to recognize Haiti's US-backed interim government at an annual summit starting yesterday despite lingering concerns over the removal of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Several leaders in the region say it's time to move forward, now that they have persuaded the Organization of American States to investigate what Aristide calls his Feb. 29 "kidnapping" by the US, a charge Washington flatly denies.
"We were all troubled when the elected president had to leave the country under some strange circumstances," Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell told parliament on Friday. "However, the reality is that Haiti continues to be a member of the international community and the people there do need our support, so we have to find ways of compromising."
Haitian Foreign Minister Yvon Simeon said he was to meet with seven Caribbean prime ministers on Saturday night as a step toward possible recognition by the Caribbean Community.
Following a meeting with foreign ministers, Simeon said he was optimistic about renewing ties.
"There have been a lot of misunderstandings and misinterpretations. We're willing to clarify these for CARICOM," he said.
Simeon said Haitian interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue would be willing to come, if invited. Most other leaders in the 15 member bloc were attending.
Latortue had a cordial telephone conversation with Community leaders on Friday, an official said on condition of anonymity.
The community withheld support for Latortue's government during a March summit in St. Kitts, expressing concern about the circumstances of Aristide's departure and Latortue's praise for armed rebels who still control much of Haiti's countryside.
Latortue had been expected at the summit but did not attend in protest at Jamaica giving Aristide temporary exile, saying the move would destabilize the country of 8 million.
But Aristide left Jamaica for South Africa on May 30 and Latortue, who had said he was suspending Haiti's membership in the community, has since made conciliatory statements.
"A lot of things are happening behind the scenes," Trinidadian Prime Minister Patrick Manning said recently, noting he had met with Latortue at an international summit in Mexico in May. "What the entire Caribbean is trying to do is to move on."
Aristide left Haiti on Feb. 29 on a US-chartered plane as rebels advanced on Port-au-Prince. He charges he was kidnapped by US and French agents, but US officials say they acted at his request.
His departure ended a three-week rebellion that left an estimated 300 dead. US-led troops sent to stabilize Haiti were replaced last month by a Brazilian-led peacekeeping force.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS