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The Greater Caribbean
This Week: The Rio Group and the European Union
support Haiti |
By: Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez, Secretary General of the
Association of Caribbean States.
 May
3, 2007: AT RECENT INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS, a point of
consensus has been achieved with respect to Haiti, on
different aspects of regional integration, despite the fact
that it has undergone difficulties spanning a period of two
decades. During the process of transition toward democracy,
on the heels of the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship, it
suffered several coups d’état, two foreign interventions and
has maintained high levels of political conflict.
Haiti’s last major political crisis was related to the armed
political movements that were opposed to the government led
by President Jean Bertrand Aristide. We must not lose sight
of the fact that those movements were armed gangs that
converged onto the streets to incite the overthrow of the
constitutional president. There were confrontations between
these gangs and the government and, as a consequence of
those altercations, and with the intervention of the
international community, those irregular forces were dealt
with. However, the state of conflict and political
disintegration was such that certain forces were successful
in getting President Aristide to leave.
In order to address that situation, important sectors of the
international community drew closer to the Haitians so as to
assist their country in regaining its political stability
and strengthening constitutional order. With that support,
Haiti was able to create a provisional government led by
Gerard Latortoue as Prime Minister, and his responsibility
was to organise elections that would facilitate the return
to constitutionality and the political administrative
restructuring of the nation.
In the interim, Haiti received countless offers of
assistance to support the development of the Haitian nation,
but most of them have not materialised, more than one year
after the assumption of power by President Rene Preval,
following elections that were observed by the entire
international community.
The 13th Ministerial Meeting between the Rio Group and the
European Union held recently in Santo Domingo, Dominican
Republic, placed particular emphasis on the international
community’s interest in Haiti. |
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That commitment is of great significance for a country like
Haiti, which is seeking new channels for development. The
ministers of both international organisations agreed to make
the Haitian situation a priority for international
co-operation, as is evident in the press release prepared to
distribute the results of the meeting: “The Ministers
ratified the commitment assumed in the 2005 Luxemburg
Declaration, and expressed their willingness to continue
deepening short, medium and long term co-operation with
Haiti, indicating that these are shared challenges and
priority concerns. They established that peace, the
restoration of order and overcoming the decline in security
are fundamental in order to facilitate strong state
institutions, legal certainty, respect for human rights and
the strengthening of the democratic climate created by the
efforts of President René Preval.
They recognised that Haiti’s socioeconomic development
requires the ongoing support of the international community.
Bilateral donors and international organisations must
support the priorities identified by the Haitian
authorities, disbursing with greater celerity, the
contributions pledged for co-operation projects that are
geared toward eradicating poverty, improving basic services
and increasing civic safety. At the same time, greater
technical assistance efforts are necessary in order to
increase Haiti’s capacity to absorb international
co-operation flows.”
This support takes on greater relevance since underlying the
grave political problems outlined above, is an unsustainable
economic and social situation that generates indicators of
extreme poverty. It is for that reason that we want to
consider the commitment recently assumed as an initial step
toward having the resources pledged in different forums
finally reaching a population that has been clamouring to
get on board the train of social development once and for
all.
It is our desire that the commitment toward Haiti result in
the creation of a mechanism that would bring assistance,
which would strengthen the local capacity for investment in
development, influencing basic aspects such as health,
education, nutrition, access to potable water and sanitation
services.
There are many examples of nations shaken by violence and
political instability that have emerged from that state
through economic growth and the application of measures that
have enabled them to escape the snares of poverty. These
factors usually create a vicious cycle, raising the question
as to which comes first - poverty or violence.
The views expressed are not necessarily the official views
of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to: mail@acs-aec.org
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