July 19, 2002

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) has endeavored over the last two years to resolve the political stalemate in Haiti over the disputed 2000 parliamentary elections. He has put on the negotiating table a balanced and credible proposal for resolving the election dispute and is working to ensure that security and other matters of concern to Haitian society are being taken seriously by the Government of Haiti. He and the Assistant Secretary General should be commended for all their hard work to date.

The ball now rests in the hands of the Haitian Government and the Convergence Democratique. The Government has responded very constructively to the Initial Draft Accord of June 12 presented by the Assistant Secretary General in an effort to bridge the differences between the parties. The Convergence Democratique has not. The time has come for all the parties to take the interests of the Haitian people into account and move forward to build a more democratic society in Haiti. The OAS proposal provides a strong foundation for doing so and the OAS Permanent Council must give its full weight and support to the most recent efforts by the Secretary General.

I have always strongly opposed linkage between the ongoing political dialogue and Haitian access to the resources of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB). These monies have been held hostage for too long and the damage to the Haitian economy has been devastating. The good faith efforts of the Haitian government are more than enough justification for beginning the process of loan disbursements from the IDB, although the state of development in Haiti is all the justification that should be needed for an institution whose primary obligation is to promote economic and social development in the hemisphere. I urge the Bush Administration to assume a leadership role in making this happen.