NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A special CARICOM mission set off for Haiti today to meet with politicians and security officials ahead of a planned stakeholder meeting in Jamaica in the coming weeks.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell confirmed the mission including The Bahamas, Trinidad, and Tobago and Jamaica will be joined by Canadian and American officials.
Mitchell underscored facilitators had a tough job ahead of them, adding nothing could prepare them for what they would face in the crisis-hit country.
“We should lower our expectations that the countries of CARICOM can solve the ultimate issues in Haiti,” Mitchell said in a voice note.
“The best we can do is help to facilitate, help to nurture or manage what is a very difficult situation in the first place.”
He continued: “No one wants someone else to come into their country to tell them what to do. Secondly, the public officials in Haiti are embarrassed and they have apologized for it, about the fact that they are being described as a failed state, or seen as a refugee country. These are very proud people with the legacy of being the first independent Black republic in a modern era. They defeated Napoleon’s mighty army.
“Thirdly there are some 200 political parties in Haiti. At one point there were 136 candidates for president. The rivalries are intense often personal and we all know the history of violence and foreign interventions and foreign abuse.”
Mitchell said: “It is also the poorest country in the hemisphere. There is nothing that is in the background from any other Caribbean country that will prepare our representatives for what they will meet in Haiti. The present administration is seeking a consensus process to move toward free and fair elections but all sides are deeply suspicious.”
He added: “Our facilitators have a tough job. So let us pray for the safety of the party, the success of the limited mission and that the process today will lead toward the meeting with all stakeholders in Jamaica within several weeks.”
At a closing press conference of the 44th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government, Prime Minister Philip Davis KC said the path towards obtaining peace and stability in Haiti did not include ‘boots on the ground’ at this time, but rather building up its established security mechanism – the Haitian National Police.
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