WASHINGTON, DC – The newly elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, has been told that progress in the region, particularly in Haiti, cannot be realised if all member states are not working together and supporting each other.
Haiti’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, speaking at the ceremony welcoming the new OAS Secretary General, Albert Ramdin (CMC Photo)Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Kamina Johnson-Smith, said the crisis in Haiti, where armed gangs are seeking to overthrow the government, “requires our continued and sustained dedicated attention.
“We must not rest until we all have given Haiti the full support that she deserves so that peace and stability be restored and ordinary Haitians can live in peace and harmony.”
Johnson-Smith said Jamaica, along with the other members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been working “assiduously with this objective in mind and we are grateful for the OAS uncompromising support in this regard.
“I urge member states, partners and the international community to continue to play a supporting role in Haiti as the country takes steps towards attaining peace and lasting stability as well as the holding of free, fair and transparent elections,” she added.
She said she wanted to thank the OAS for its role to date in Haiti and its pivotal role in the production of identification cards to advance the electoral process.
“They are a critical and foundational element,” she added.
St. Kitts-Nevis Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Denzil Douglas said the OAS must serve as a unifying force, upholding democratic principles and safeguarding fundamental freedoms across the entire Americas.
“At the heart of our regional security concerns, is the imperative to finally write the historic wrong levied on our sister nation, Haiti.
“Haiti continues to endure overwhelming political upheaval, economic desperation and a worsening security crisis that has caused unspeakable suffering. It must be replaced urgently by decisive, coordinated and substantive action, “ Douglas said.
Douglas, who at one time was the longest serving prime minister in the Caribbean, said it is the “sincere hope of my country that under your leadership, Secretary General Ramdin, the OAS will valiantly work as a leading force for restoring stability, governance and hope to the Haitian people, since driving the fate of Haiti to a brighter future is not a national issue, ity is also a regional one.
“It is incumbent on all of us in this hemisphere to work together tp ensure that our sister nation emerges stronger and much more secure, well on the path to a more sustainable position,” he added.
Canada also expressed support for Ramdin’s role in getting Haiti back on the path to democracy, with its Permanent Representative to the OAS, Stuart Savage, saying Ottawa is confident he will supply the strong leadership needed to achieve these objectives and ensure the OAS remains unified and effective in facing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
“These include, but not limited to support for Haiti’s effort to find its way to greater democracy, security and prosperity,” he added.
Haiti’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, in welcoming Ramdin’s appointment said he will be faced with a number of challenges and that “you will have to be not only brave but imaginative as you draw on the resources available.
“I know I don’t speak for my self when I say I hope that peace will return to this hemisphere, as we know, like elsewhere in this world, it is challenged,” he said, adding “our people have never needed us more”.
He said he was reiterating Port au Prince’s “full support for the principle on which the OAS stands,” adding “we know that charity begins at home and we know how much needs to be done in terms of regional solidarity, guaranteed peace, institutional peace, democracy and rights of the individual”.
Last month, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, addressing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit in Barbados, said he intends presenting to the United Nations Security Council, a new initiative aimed at supporting security and stability in Haiti.
“It is my intention to present to the Security Council a proposal that is very similar to the one that we have presented for Somalia, in which the UN assumes the responsibility of the structural and logistical expenditures that are necessary to put the force in place, and the salaries of the force are paid through the trust fund that already exists.
“And if the Security Council will accept this proposal, we will have the conditions to finally have an effective force to defeat the gangs in Haiti and create the conditions for democracy,” Guterres said.
Haiti is facing a crisis following the assassination in July 2021 of the then president Jovenel Moise. Criminal gangs have are seeking to take complete control of the capital Port au Prince, and have launched several attacks, killing women and children among others.
The UN Security Council in 2023 passed a resolution for a Kenya-based Multinational Security Support Mission, aimed at combating gang violence and restoring stability in the country.
