The Hindu : Chavez offers Aristide asylum in Venezuela

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 18, 2004

International

International

Chavez offers Aristide asylum in Venezuela

PORT-AU-PRINCE (HAITI), MARCH 17. Haiti's Interim Prime Minister, moving quickly to prevent the country from devolving into further disarray, reportedly settled on a list of Cabinet members on Tuesday amid a regional quarrel over Jamaica's decision to receive the exiled President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue, who was appointed to the post last week, is faced with the task of forming an interim government that can begin the process of reactivating the public and private sectors and winning the confidence of the Haitian people, who have suffered through months of political uncertainty. Mr. Aristide fled into exile on Feb. 29 under pressure from armed rebels and the U.S. and French Governments.

Officials involved in the Cabinet selection process said Mr. Latortue had decided on at least 10 Cabinet posts on Tuesday and might add others, depending on how many Ministries he creates. The Prime Minister is expected to make the formal appointments as early as Wednesday.

The 10 Ministers selected so far, according to officials close to the selection process, are mostly technocrats who have not been deeply involved in politics; the exclusion of politicians has reportedly angered some of the country's political parties on Tuesday. Mr. Latortue has said he intends to build a government of national reconciliation. The Cabinet will run the country until elections are held.

Diplomatic wrangling between Haiti's new government and Jamaica, which has provided temporary refuge to Mr. Aristide, continued on Tuesday. Mr. Aristide spent the day in a heavily guarded house in a retreat owned by the Jamaican Government in the hills near the resort town of Ocho Rios, and Jamaican officials said they would not recognise Haiti's new government until the issue was discussed at a meeting of the 15-member Caribbean economic bloc, the Caribbean Community, later this month.

On Monday, Mr. Latortue said he was withdrawing his Ambassador from Kingston and suspending diplomatic relations with Jamaica and Caricom over their decisions to side with Mr. Aristide.

The Haitian Ambassador had actually left Jamaica last week, part of a mass recall of Ambassadors undertaken after Mr. Aristide left Haiti, officials in Jamaica said.

Since fleeing Haiti, Mr. Aristide has claimed that he was forced from power by a U.S.-backed coup and whisked into exile against his will.

He says he is still president of Haiti. American officials deny the accusations and say they acted at Mr. Aristide's request and probably saved his life as rebels closed in on the capital.

The Caribbean Community, known as Caricom, has called for an investigation into Mr. Aristide's claim.

The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, who has grown increasingly hostile toward the United States in recent speeches, jumped into the regional diplomatic fray on Tuesday, saying he would not recognise the new Government of Haiti and offering Aristide refuge in Venezuela. — New York Times News Service

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