By Leonardo Blair, Staff ReporterCHILEAN PRESIDENT Ricardo Lagos says the reaction of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to the ousting of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February was an exemplary move in the defence of democracy in Latin America.
Mr. Lagos, who was on his way to Haiti on Tuesday night, made the statement at Jamaica House where he stopped briefly for a meeting with Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
"CARICOM has been able to give an extremely good account to Latin Americans of what is the meaning of democracy and the rule of law," President Lagos.
CONTROVERSIAL OUSTING
After the controversial ousting of Mr. Aristide in February, CARICOM had decided not to recognise the US-backed interim Haitian Government headed by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. The 15-member regional grouping had also demanded an investigation of his ouster and invoked Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter citing Mr. Aristide's removal as unconstitutional.
"I thought it was extremely important to listen to what the Prime Minister had to say. Haiti is part of CARICOM and therefore if we want to do something in Haiti in order to establish democratic institutions and the rule of law, then it is extremely important to listen to what the CARICOM countries have to say," said Mr. Lagos.
PEACE-KEEPING FORCES
Chile is among several countries contributing to the United Nations peace-keeping forces in Haiti. In April, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution authorising a UN peace-keeping mission to take over responsibilities in Haiti on June 1 with a maximum of 6,700 soldiers and 1,600 police.
Other issues which Prime Minister Patterson and President Lagos discussed included bilateral relations between Jamaica and Chile as well as those between CARICOM and Chile. "We discussed how we can further improve the capability of both the OAS and the United Nations to respond to the economic and political requirements of the hemisphere and the world and we have decided that we would wish to strengthen the avenues of contact," Mr. Patterson said.
