Caribbean Update Haiti high on agenda of leaders meeting this week; Trudeau to attend

By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

Ever since Haiti became the last country to join the 15-unit Caribbean Community (Caricom) back in 2002, the bloc has faced stinging accusations that it does not seem to know how to handle its most populous, finance-starved, and crime-ridden member nation.

Compared to most of the other members, which are either stable and quiet idyllic tourism destinations or resource-rich mineral and oil producers like Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname, Haiti has been a major bugbear for the grouping of mostly former British colonies as it has gone through tough and protracted periods of instability—of a kind that the bloc says it does not exactly have the resources to handle.

As Caricom leaders assem- ble in the Bahamas for their biannual meeting this week, then, the main focus of discussions is likely to be the situation in the embattled country where gangland violence has been spiraling out of control. Nearly 100 police officers have been murdered by gang members in recent weeks; there have been hundreds of kidnappings, store lootings, and riots, all serving to paralyze life in large parts of the country. Police officers in some towns have abandoned their posts for fear of being killed as what’s left of the cabinet appeals to the international community for interventionist assistance.

Meanwhile, the bloc has been leaning on western nations like the U.S. and Canada for assistance in dealing with the situation, while Haiti’s embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry has reached out to the group, asking for any help he can get.

Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau will be among the leaders assembling in Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, for the threeday summit. Ottawa has already pledged assistance but has signaled an intention to collaborate with the region. Last week, it sent a high-tech aircraft to fly over areas under the control of heavily armed gangs to disrupt their communications and other activities.

Other issues on the summit’s agenda include the functioning of the singlemarket trading system, but the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, which have been overburdened with Haitian refugees, say they want a full discussion.

“There is no question as to whether Haiti will be dis- cussed,” said spokesperson Leonard Robertson. “This has been a standard item on our agenda not only in the context of formal meetings among leaders but we have held a number of virtual meetings with Prime Minister Ariel Henry and Pierre Trudeau of Canada. Haiti has been at the front and center of the community’s interest and agenda so it will naturally form an important part of our agenda.”

Earlier this year, the bloc offered to mediate with the various factions and stakeholders, suggesting in a recent statement that it “remains willing and ready to assist in achieving this goal and in that regard had commenced sounding [out] Haitian stakeholders over the past few weeks about their willingness to attend a meeting in a Caricom country.”

Over the weekend, host Prime Minister and bloc Chair Phillip Davis won a major court battle that had previously blocked local authorities from dismantling Haitian shanty towns in prime tourism destinations like Abaco.

The Bahamas repatriated more than 5,000 Haitians last year. The Turks and Caicos, a British colony with associate membership in Caricom, recently said it was forced to intercept and turn away more than 3,000 migrants last year as Haiti’s security crisis worsened. The coast guard has intercepted hundreds of Cubans as well and sent them back home.

Jamaica and the Bahamas have already offered to participate in any multinational peacekeeping force as they await responses from other member nations.

As preparations for the