GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):CHAIRMAN OF the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Patrick Manning, yesterday hinted at the re-admission of Haiti to the regional integration movement following the election of René Preval last month.
"Your victory also opens the path to the re-engagement of Haiti at the highest levels of the Councils of the Community given the all-embracing endorsement of your election as a reflection of the will of the people," said Manning, the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, in a message to Preval.
PRINCIPLED POSITION
"As you no doubt recall, the Caribbean Community took the principled position in March 2004 following the interruption of the democratic process of February 29, 2004 that the representatives of the Interim Administration of Haiti would not be permitted to participate in the Councils of the Community until the return to constitutional rule. With your victory at the polls, that process is well on the way to being achieved."
CARICOM had not invited Haiti to participate in its activities following the controversial removal of President Jean Bertrand Aristide from office in February 2004. Preval, who will be sworn in for a second term in April, was declared winner of the February 7 polls, the first to be held in Haiti since Aristide's departure.
In his message, Manning told Preval that his margin of victory was testimony to the "achievements of your first term in office which brought a fresh breath of hope to the majority of the Haitian people".
Preval is expected to lead the Haitian delegation to the annual CARICOM Summit to be held in St. Kitts in July.
