Aristide did the right thing

PRESIDENT Jean-Bertr-and Aristide made the right decision to leave Haiti and thus prevent an all-out bloodbath in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. This was the view expressed yesterday by Roman Catholic Haitian priest, Father Enel Almeurs, who also called on Caricom to help restore peace in his country. Aristide fled Haiti yesterday after weeks of stating that he would not be removed by rebels who had overtaken the countryside and laid siege to Port-au-Prince. Ironically in a Sunday Newsday interview 24 hours earlier, Fr Almeurs indicated that Aristide could defuse the Haitian “time bomb” by stepping down and he called on Caricom to put pressure on Aristide to make a peaceful resolution and end social unrest in Haiti. Fr Almeurs told Newsday he heard “the good news” of Aristide’s flight from Haiti when he finished conducting mass around 9 am yesterday.

“I think it is a wise decision. A good decision also for the country,” he said. Almeurs said he did not know where Aristide and his family were going but he prayed for their safety. “I hope wherever he goes, he will enjoy his stay,” he added. The Haitian priest said he was unaware of the current situation in Haiti and whether it required the deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force to stabilise things. “I invite Caricom to do something. Caricom as an institution created to protect Caribbean people should do something,” he declared. Almeurs agreed with Prime Minister Patrick Manning that a multinational peacekeeping force should only enter Haiti with the blessing of the Haitian authorities. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council rejected a Caricom resolution calling for a peacekeeping force to be sent to Haiti. Almeurs said he was not sure how soon elections could be held in Haiti to install a legitimate government and called on fellow Haitians to show love and understanding to one another.