THE EDITOR, Sir:
IT IS very strange that our Prime Minister is so supportive of Aristide when only two months ago he himself was calling on the Haitian president to mend his ways, clean up his election system and release persons arbitrarily imprisoned.
In January, speaking on radio in Jamaica after CARICOM talks with Aristide, Mr. Patterson said: "We are insisting that those who are held in arbitrary detention should be released, and particularly a number of students who have been held in custody since the events of the 5th of December, we also feel that they should be released."
Our Prime Minister also said: "We are making it clear that the consequence of a failure (by Aristide) to respond positively to the proposals we have made would result in our considering whether Haiti is in compliance with (CARICOM's) Charter for Civil Society..."
Mr. Patterson also declared: "There has been a perception in certain quarters in Haiti that CARICOM backs President Aristide, regardless. This is not so. Haiti is a member of the OAS. They have passed resolutions in the OAS, and we expect President Aristide to comply with them."
In the face of all this, how can the Jamaican government and CARICOM be so anxious to give comfort to Aristide and to denounce those frustrated Haitians who threw him out of office?
I am, etc.,
KEN JONES
alllerdyce@hotmail.com
Via Go-Jamaica
