By Jenni Campbell, Managing Editor
IT IS only a month since Gerard Latortue, an educator, scholar and international business consultant in South Florida, packed his belongings and headed for Haiti to take up the post of interim Prime Minister. He comes at the request of the Conseil des Sages (Council of the Wise) which was set up by the United States and the Haitian elite but against the advice of his "... wife and daughters".
The Council of the Wise had one main mission says member Anne-Marie Issa, and that was to identify a suitable leader for the impoverished land, rocked constantly by coups, revolts and rebellion.
Latortue, who boasts about his expertise at negotiating earned largely through his work with the United Nations comes with the stamp of United States approval and the trust and confidence of Haiti's business community.
Latortue came ready to 'pull all together' he says, as his homeland needed him and he had a burning desire to help.
"I have been away long enough so that I come fresh and my reputation is good enough to talk with anybody. My job is to teach Haitians how to unify. To teach Haitians how to live with opposition. I am open to all political parties. I want to be Prime Minister of all Haitians," an effervescent Mr. Latortue affirms.
NON-PARTISAN GOVERNMENT
At the National Palace, on his installation, Prime Minister Latortue handed Cabinet members letters of appointment and defended his choice of a 'non-partisan' Government.
"This is a Government of transition. It is a way of showing that it is possible to govern this country differently and to create a new relationship between the state and its people," he said.
But some two weeks into office Mr. Latortue's Government was accused of favouritism. Several Haitian politicians complained that the new Government unfairly excluded political groups including Lavalas, Haiti's largest party, and the opposition Convergence coalition.
London-based human rights group, Amnesty International, on concluding a two-week fact-finding mission in Haiti said at least four associates of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide have been kidnapped and other citizens have been attacked or harassed since Aristide's departure on February 29.
Amnesty urged Haiti's interim Government to crack down on human rights violators and stop reprisals against members of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Government.
The international press has reported that Latortue's administration is accused of targeting members of Aristide's Government and Lavalas political party for arrest. Several former Government leaders are banned from leaving Haiti.
However, speaking with The Sunday Gleaner at the official home of the Prime Minister in Port au Prince, Mr. Latortue was adamant. "Lavalas party members are not being persecuted. Today (last Saturday) I will meet with a delegation, so that they can be involved in the electoral process."
But what was the relationship between Latortue and Aristide prior to the deposed President's departure from his home country?
"Aristide called me in the United States some time after he was re-elected in 2001 and invited me to come and meet him. I said well, if I go to meet heads of countries all over the world, why not come to meet the head of my own country? He asked me if I wanted to become a member of his Cabinet. I told him no, I don't want to be involved in that, I was only interested if he could guarantee me that there would a government of national unity. I told him to call other Haitians in the Diaspora to come and do something for their country, and that I am sure that they will come, and I will come, but he did not seem to want that."
DESTROYED
While Mr. Aristide insists that he was kidnapped and taken from his country by United States forces, Mr. Latortue believes that the former President left Haiti on his own accord, "...yes, he might have been encouraged to do so, but he left, without leaving a penny here.
And the equipment, records and computer hardware in the Presidential Palace were all destroyed. We are starting over right now, all from scratch."
He said after the departure of the President, people were still issuing 'unauthorised' cheques and a hold had to be put on all Government spending and, where they could be verified, new cheques were issued.
In Gonaives (Latortue's home town, a rural community which was torn between rebel and Government rule), it was reported that the interim Prime Minister hailed rebel leaders as "freedom fighters". This Mr. Latortue lashed and cast aside as a "misinterpretation of French Creole".
"I did not say that they were freedom fighters, I said you have contributed to liberating the country from Aristide, the press translated this to mean freedom fighter, freedom fighter in English means something else. It is the problem of the men who want to take sides. But I spent all my career, of more than 40 years either as a professor or at the United Nations, so I am accustomed to a sense of balance."
Meanwhile rebel leader Guy Phillipe and others are left to integrate with the rest of the society. "They fought against Aristide's Government, this Government has no issue with them. If there are criminal charges, it is a matter for the police and the justice department."
Mr. Latortue was unapologetic.
SECURITY BLANKET
Currently Mr. Latortue's security blanket includes French army personnel. Troops from France, United States and Canada are in Haiti to assist with security, especially in regards to the disarming of gangs.
"We have no training to face some of the armed gangs. We need the help of the international police. We need to create a specialised unit in the Police Force to deal with gangs and guns."
Haiti was almost a narco-state, says the Prime Minister, "Under this new Government, we do not tolerate drug dealers. Drug dealers in the Caribbean had free access to Haiti. Many in our police are involved, we cannot patrol our coastlines and there is no way than to have the co-operation of the Drug Enforcement Agency. We are told that there are go-fast boast which operate between the south coasts of Haiti and Jamaica."
He said that because of the lack of training and involvement in drug trafficking and human rights violations, the Haitian Police Force has dwindled from 4,000 police personnel in 1994 to 2,000 this year on the payroll but only 1,200-1,300 actually show up for work.
"Recently we sent home 140 senior police officers who have never been trained and/or involved in criminal activity. We are currently trying to recruit people with college degrees for these posts." Mr. Latortue remarked.
But as the Prime Minister and his Government try to put some order in the society, the hope is to get the wheels of production turning quickly so that jobs can be created to ease the 70 per cent unemployment rate.
SMALL PROJECTS
The Prime Minister said Haiti will be looking to the international donor countries for support and that his country does not want a lot of small projects scattered all over the nation.
"Haiti's position is to stop a lot of small projects all over the country. We want to concentrate the aid in four specific areas."
Mr. Latortue listed the areas of concentration. "There can be no development without electricity, we need proper communication especially roads, right now we need to build about 3000 km of roadway, and we must look at our human resources development no more cheap labour, the time for cheap labour is over. We want to build an economy based on knowledge."
He braced himself back in his chair and continued.
"We need to focus on the protection of the environment, health, gender our women who account for 60 per cent of our population,"
At election in 2005, Mr. Latortue is expected to retire "for the second time" and members of the current interim Government will not be considered for any post "... we will not accept any Government post".
