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HIGH - LEVEL DELEGATION TO GO TO HAITI

  February 14, 2003

A high-level delegation representing the international community will travel to Haiti on Monday to convey growing concern about the situation in that country.

The delegation will be led jointly by Senator the Hon. Julian Hunte, Minister of External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation of St. Lucia and Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Foreign and Community Relations, and Organization of American States (OAS) Assistant Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi.

It will include Bahamas’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Frederick Mitchell, Canada’s Secretary of State for Latin America, Africa and Francophonie, the Hon. Denis Paradis, the United States Presidential Envoy for Western Hemisphere Initiatives, Ambassador Otto J. Reich and the Chairman of the OAS Permanent Council, Ambassador Arturo Duarte of Guatemala. Representatives from Mexico and France will also participate. The European Union will be represented and the international financial institutions will be present as observers.

Minister Hunte and Assistant Secretary General Einaudi stated that the delegation will “communicate the international community’s firm conviction that all sides in Haiti should honor their obligations under resolution 822 so as to end the climate of violence and insecurity. This visit is not designed to start new negotiations.”

Resolution 822 calls for measures to restore security and lay the groundwork for elections in 2003. The delegation will urge the Government of Haiti to take immediate measures to improve the security situation and encourage all political sectors in Haiti to participate actively in the formation of a provisional electoral council as a necessary step for the resolution of problems stemming from the May 2000 elections.

The delegation will meet with President Aristide and other government officials, leaders of opposition parties and civil society, as well as with the diplomatic representatives of the international community in Haiti. The high-level delegation will reinforce the efforts of the OAS Special Mission to Strengthen Democracy in Haiti, which has been working since April 2002 to address issues related to justice, security, human rights and governance. Both the Chief and Deputy Chief of the special mission will be part of the high level delegation.

Reference: E-034/03