| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC March 19, 2003 Delegation from the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community Council to Visit HaitiThe 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.
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