UPDATE CARIBBEAN-CARICOM leaders to meet in Jamaica on the situation in Haiti

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping, Dr. Irfaan Ali, Friday confirmed that regional leaders will meet in Jamaica on Monday to discuss the ongoing situation in the French-speaking member state of Haiti.

In a brief video statement, Ali, who is also Guyana’s President, confirmed a Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) story that the meeting would also be attended by representatives of governments “whom Haiti has engaged as partners.”

In his statement, Ali said that regional leaders remain engaged in “deep discussions with Haiti’s various stakeholders and Prime Minister Henry.

“While we are making considerable progress, the stakeholders are not yet where they need to be. We are acutely aware of the urgent need for consensus to be reached. We have impressed the respective parties that time is not on their side to agree on the way forward. From our reports, the situation on the ground remains dire and is of serious concern to us,” Ali said.

He said that the meeting on Monday is being called to “urgently address this current state of affairs and all other matters critical to stabilizing security and providing urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Haiti.

“It is vital that this engagement is at as high a level as possible to send a clear message of unity between CARICOM and the international community as we work together to provide critical support to the Haitian people during this crisis.”

CMC reported Friday, quoting well-placed sources, that it was not clear whether Prime Minister Henry would be in Jamaica for the meeting, and Ali, in his statement, gave no indication as to whether he would be present.

Henry, who came to power following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, has been in Puerto Rico since earlier this week, unable to enter his country after having traveled from Kenya, where he signed an agreement allowing for a United Nations Security Council sanctioned international force led by the African nation to restore peace and security in his troubled country.

But the criminal gangs that have all but taken over the capital, Port au Prince, said a new government would soon be installed. A judge, Durin Duret Jr., will be chairman, assisted by former rebel leader and former police commissioner Guy Philippe and Francoise Saint-Vil Villiers from the religious sector.

“PM Henry and all the other government members must resign, or they will face the consequences,” the outspoken leftist political leader Jean-Charles Moise told journalists.

The CMC sources also indicated that not all the CARICOM leaders will attend the meeting, but mainly the “members of the extended Bureau” of CARICOM.

The Bureau consists of the current chairman, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, and Roosevelt Skerrit, his Dominican counterpart.

Ali said he wanted to inform the Haitian people “that we will continue to work with them and on their behalf until there is a satisfactory resolution that brings stability and relief to them.”