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ADDRESS
BY THE HON. FRED
MITCHELL MP
MINISTER
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
ROTARY
CLUB
THE
PROSPECT OF FORMER PRESIDENT JEAN BERTRAND ARISTIDE
RETURNING TO POWER AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
I
wish to thank you for inviting me here this afternoon to speak to you on
a subject that is of considerable national interest. As you know
considerable resources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
government have been expended in seeking to find some permanent solution
to what was described by Dawn Marshall in 1977 as The Haitian Problem.
On the last weekend in February 2004, there were fateful events
that took place in Port au Prince.
Up to that time, Caricom countries had been engaged in a dialogue
with the Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide with a view to
settling issues between himself and his opposition.
There was very little support in the developed world for
sustaining the rule of law and supporting the elected President of the
country. Within hours of
the last conversation the Jamaican Foreign Minister had with Mr.
Aristide, he was forced from office and into exile.
First he was taken to the Central African Republic, then to
Jamaica and then to South Africa where he and his wife now work in a
university.
The
west seems very rattled by his continued presence on the political
scene. The South African
Government that has given him shelter believes that he is still the
President of Haiti and treats him accordingly.
He has said that he wishes peace in his society and is interested
in dialogue with the Opposition.
I need to say at the outset with regard to the subject on which I
was specifically asked to speak that it would not be appropriate for me
to speculate on whether or not President Aristide will return to Haiti.
Indeed as I have said in another forum the business of who is the
President of Haiti is not one for me or for The Bahamas Government.
The business of who is the President of Haiti is for the Haitian
people. The Bahamas has
always taken the position that President Aristide is a Haitian citizen
and so on the face of it would be entitled to return to his country at
any time if he wishes.
What The Bahamas is more concerned about, however, is the process
toward democracy and free and fair elections in Haiti.
We want to be sure that the processes that are in train for
elections to be held in November will lead to free and fair elections
and truly representative Government.
Elections are scheduled for November of this year, and the
primary aim of the international community at the moment is the question
of security so that those elections can take place and bring about a
result that is accepted by the Haitian people and the international
community.
The reports that we get on the ground about the situation in
Haiti suggest that the security situation is quite unstable.
The Bahamas Ambassador has not returned to the Haitian capital
because of that situation, and he will continue only to visit on an
itinerant basis for the time being.
Nevertheless we are concerned that we remain engaged with the
Haitian situation as they proceed toward elections because we as a
country have a stake in their success.
Any thing that will work toward stability in Haiti is good for
The Bahamas.
Right
now the interim Foreign Minister of the interim Haitian administration
is making the rounds of Caribbean capitals to try and break the logjam
between Caricom and the present Haitian administration.
The Bahamas supports this. We
think that it is essential for Caricom to become engaged in the
processes of bringing democracy to Haiti.
It is important that as the elections are planned that Caricom is
involved in supplying technical assistance in such areas as voter
registration, printing of ballots, election security and procedures at
ballot places. We think
that The Bahamas with a cadre of Creole speakers should be able to lend
a hand in this area as well.
The Haitian situation is very difficult, and it has been over the
two centuries of their existence. The
country never got a chance to get off the ground after defeating
Napoleon’s armies. The
French exacted a huge price of them in order to stay independent. The
country has never recovered. There
was a strange irony that in the 200th year of their
independence, the Government of Haiti was overthrown, and French troops
were placed back on Haitian soil.
Notwithstanding all of the ironies, however, and the difficulty
of the situation, there must continue to be an attempt to manage this
situation. The international community has simply seen Haiti as a basket
case, almost like a spoiled child that requires attention to keep it
quiet but as soon as they are quiet, no one pays attention to Haiti any
more. This cycle of neglect
must change. Haitians
themselves who live overseas must commit themselves to rebuilding their
country. Too much of the
intellectual capital of the country is reposed overseas, and not enough
is being put to good use in rebuilding the country.
The Bahamas is quite pleased therefore that Brazil has decided to
take the lead in helping to heal the wounds of the past in Haiti.
As you know, the United Nations force is headed by Brazil and
number of other Latin American countries are engaged in the process of
seeking to keep the peace there in Haiti.
The criticism has been that the force has not been vigorous
enough in bringing the rebels who overthrew President Aristide to heel,
that much too much energy has been spent on trying to isolate the
supporters of the former President and not enough on the rebels.
The Bahamas has also expressed a concern about the fate of those
persons who served in the Government of the former President, including
the former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune who has now been charged after
being held in jail without bail for over a year.
We have said to the interim administration that they ought to be
careful that it is not perceived to be a witch-hunt against the
supporters of the former President.
In recent weeks, there has been some speculation about the former
President’s return. He himself has addressed the question saying that
he will return one day. The
question many have been asking is whether or not that means that he will
return in time to fight the elections in November.
There is a view that he will not be eligible to run again in
elections because he has already served two terms. Under the Haitian
constitution, it is argued that he will not be able to run again.
Those who support his running again argue that he was never able
to complete his second term and so should be allowed to get back into
the race.
As I said earlier, however, these are matters for the Haitian
people. What we as
Bahamians must seek to ensure is that the processes lead to fair result,
and that we assist where we can to ensure that those processes lead to a
free, fair and democratic result.
Thank you very much indeed.
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