19 March 2003
Text: OAS Delegation to Haiti Will Urge Resolution to Political Crisis
(Delegation will advocate steps for electoral solution to crisis)
(410)
A delegation from the Organization of American States (OAS) and
Caribbean Community Council will visit Haiti March 19-20 to urge the
Haitian government, opposition parties and civil society to resolve
the country's political crisis, according to a March 19 media note
issued by the State Department.
The State Department said that the delegation will encourage the
government of Haiti to implement OAS Resolution 822, which includes
steps to restore security and respect for human rights as a
precondition for free and fair 2003 elections. These steps will
encourage all sides to join an independent electoral council to
oversee elections, the Department said.
Following is the text of the media note:
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
March 19, 2003
MEDIA NOTE
Delegation from the Organization of American States and the Caribbean
Community Council to Visit Haiti
The President's Envoy for Western Hemisphere Initiatives Ambassador
Otto J. Reich, Senator Julian Hunte, the Foreign Minister of St. Lucia
and chairman of the Caribbean Community Council, and the Organization
of American States Assistant Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi will
lead a delegation to Haiti, March 19-20, to urge Haiti's government,
opposition and civil society to resolve the country's political crisis
by immediately implementing Organization of American States Resolution
No. 822.
Other members from the international community include the chairman of
the Organization of American States Permanent Council, senior
representatives from Argentina, the Bahamas, Canada, the European
Union, France, and Mexico. Representatives of the Inter-American
Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Bank will be
present as observers.
The delegation will urge the parties to Haiti's political crisis to
implement Organization of American States Resolution 822, including
concrete steps by the Government of Haiti to restore security and
human rights so as to lay the groundwork for free and fair elections
in 2003. Implementing these steps will encourage all sides to
participate in an independent electoral council to oversee elections.
The delegation will also urge opposition parties and civil society to
respond to these measures by the Government of Haiti by joining the
electoral council and participating in a peaceful, electoral solution
to the political crisis in Haiti.
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.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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