EDITORIAL - CARICOM, Haiti and NAFTA

It is widely expected that current events in Haiti, in particular the dispute over the outcome of its presidential election, will be a substantial part of today's talks between the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) in the town of Wakefield in the Canadian province of Quebec. That the United States (US) foreign secretary, Hillary Clinton, Canada's Lawrence Cannon and their Mexican counterpart, Patricia Espinosa, should place Haiti on their agenda is hardly surprising.

The US state of Florida is a short sea hop away from Haiti. Washington is understandably concerned that there could be flotillas of boat people headed for its territory in the event of a total collapse of the political and security infrastructure in the country. Additionally, Canada has a substantial population of Haitians, or people of Haitian descent, including its governor general of the recent past, Michaëlle Jean.

Nonetheless, today's sessions in Quebec should be closely monitored by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Haiti is a member. Indeed, we expect Prime Minister Bruce Golding in his role as chairman of CARICOM, and having consulted his regional counterparts, would have instructed his foreign minister, Dr Ken Baugh, to maintain an open line to Wakefield, making clear to the NAFTA foreign ministers that CARICOM is an interested party in the Haitian issue.

We do not make this observation lightly. Many, like us, will recall how heavy-handed, insensitive, big-power policy formulation nearly seven years ago rewarded a perception in the Haitian polity that the country's constitution was a flexible document, to be embraced or disregarded at whim. At the time, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a president facing domestic unrest, was the villain of the piece for powerful international players.

Two of these - the United States and Canada - are at the table in Quebec. With a third, France, they engineered the undermining and collapse of a CARICOM initiative, carried largely by Jamaica, that would have allowed Aristide to serve out his term as president - but with negotiated reduced authority - thus maintaining both form and substance of constitutional order.

Transformational guide

It is a matter of debate whether CARICOM's insistence for a return to constitutional arrangements before it let Haiti back into its councils was a strategy that left a vacuum that was occupied by others. What has become clear since CARICOM's re-engagement of Haiti, and particularly since the devastating earthquake there in January, is the community's relevance as a potential transformational guide.

To the international community, Haiti represents a septic blob, spoken of in clichés and to be fully be engaged at the next crisis. Haiti's place in the community does not allow CARICOM that condescension - certainly not in the institutionalised form of others. Moreover, shared experiences with Haiti sharpens CARICOM's appreciation of the social nuances at play in Haitian politics.

The bottom line: CARICOM must ensure that it is not on the margins when policies are being shaped for Haiti. Indeed, the role of the CARICOM's representative for Haiti, currently held by Jamaica's P.J. Patterson, should be broadened to include helping with the rebuilding of the Haitian state.

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