URGENT CARIBBEAN-CARICOM leaders to meet in Haiti in Jamaica next week

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC—Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders will meet in Jamaica next Monday to discuss the ongoing political and socio-economic situation in Haiti, well-placed sources told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Friday.

“Yes, a meeting is taking place. Heads will be there, along with representatives from the international community,” the sources said.

But when asked whether Haitian Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry, who has been stranded in Puerto Rico, will be in attendance, the sources replied, “We are not aware of that,” reiterating that Haiti’s international partners will attend the meeting.

The sources also indicated that not all the CARICOM leaders are likely to attend the meeting, but probably 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 his Dominican counterpart, Roosevelt Skerrit.

“I can also confirm that the United Nations has been invited to attend the meeting organized by CARICOM, which will take place on Monday,” said UN spokesman Jeremy Laurence. He noted that a number of international partners will be in attendance to encourage support for the restoration of democratic institutions in Haiti in the shortest possible time.

At the end of their summit in Guyana last week, dominated by the unfolding situation in Haiti, the regional leaders signaled their intention to meet soon in Haiti.

President Ali had said then that the issue of Haiti was a “challenging task,” as he recognized the work Jamaica has been doing in coordinating efforts. He said, “You have to understand the situation in Haiti.”

He said the prime ministers involved would have to agree to postpone or re-organize their schedules, “but this is of such importance to the region, and the region has to provide the leadership on this issue.”

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 with a judge, Durin Duret Jr., as chairman, assisted by former rebel leader and former police commissioner Guy Philippe, and Francoise Saint-Vil Villier, from the religious sector.

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

However, in a statement on Thursday, the Haitian government said it would extend a state of emergency in its Ouest Department, the seat of the capital city, for another month as it seeks to regain control of the troubled French-speaking CARICOM country.

A declaration published in the official Gazette said the state of emergency would extend until April 3, with a nightly curfew until March 11, to “reestablish order and take appropriate measures to retake control of the situation.”

The authorities had first announced the state of emergency and curfew on Sunday evening as fighting escalated and the criminal gangs allowed for thousands of inmates to be freed from two of the central prisons here.