By Tyrone Reid, Staff ReporterTHE UNITED States Embassy in Kingston on Wednesday dispelled talk that a rift exists between the U.S. and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), after the postponement of a meeting between regional national security ministers and Tom Ridge, the United States' Secretary for Homeland Security.
"It was a mutual decision to postpone, not cancel the meeting," explained Orna Blum, spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy.
"Since the Caribbean Com-munity has decided not to include Haiti as a participant, the U.S. has proposed that the meeting be rescheduled to a mutually convenient time when all members of the Caribbean Community, including Haiti, will be able to participate," Ms. Blum said.
The meeting was abandoned because of CARICOM's unwavering stance of not recognising the U.S.-backed Haitian interim Government which replaced the ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
According to Ms. Blum, the U.S. is hoping to have the meeting, which was scheduled for May 3-4 in the Bahamas, sometime this summer.
"The issue of regional security is an important one and we therefore feel that Haiti should be at the table for such a meeting," Ms. Blum said. She added that Haiti's presence was also of paramount importance considering that it had the largest population in the region.
She played down arguments of a rift between CARICOM and the United States, stressing that the communication and co-operation between the U.S. and CARICOM is being maintained in a variety of ways.
"We understand that the issue of Haiti's relations with the Caribbean Community is the subject of discussion within CARICOM and that its leaders will be addressing these issues," Ms. Blum said.
