Caricom's Haiti Initiative - A Chronology in Pictures by Peter Ramsay

Caricom's Haiti Initiative
A Chronology in Pictures

Bahamas Information Services
Photographs by Peter Ramsay

First to arrive for the Nassau talks was Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Shown here being escorted off the tarmac by Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell, Manning looks intent on the task ahead.

HAITIAN OPPOSITION - 14 Leaders and representatives of the various groups which comprise the political opposition in Haiti were next to arrive. They, too, were greeted by Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs & The Public Service Fred Mitchell, shown here chatting with members of the group in Nassau Airport's V.I.P. Lounge.

PATTERSON - Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, the current Chairman of the Caribbean Community, addressed the media upon his arrival in Nassau, outlining the importance of the 'Nassau Talks' in the ongoing search for a positive solution to the political crisis in Haiti.

Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie played a key role in the success of the talks, which - by all accounts - convinced the Haitian delegation that Caricom is "not the enemy". Prime Minister Christie is seen here flanked by his Chief of Protocol Andrew McKinney at left and Bahamas Ambassador to the US Joshua Sears at right.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA INTEREST - Nassau became base camp for several representatives of the international media during the talks. Jamaica's P.J. Patterson is seen striding smilingly away from a cameraman of the Reuters News Agency.

INTENSE SESSIONS - Sessions were intense affairs, with the gathered representatives of Caricom listening, first hand, to the points of view of the Haitian Opposition. Prime Minister Christie is seen here caucusing with one of the international observers to the talks. Observers from the US, the OAS and Canada attended.

LUNCHEON - Delegates were hosted to a luncheon by the Bahamas Prime Minister, pictured at centre in a lighthearted moment.

NEWS BRIEFING - At the end of the Nassau Talks, the three Caricom Prime Ministers briefed the media. The tone was cautiously optimistic.

ON TO HAITI - Scant days after the delegates had left Nassau, Prime Minister Christie made his way to Port-au-Prince to lay the details of the Caricom Initiative on the table for Haiti's President Jean Betrand Aristide.

OFFICIAL WELCOME - Haiti's President Aristide gave a formal official welcome to Prime Minister Christie. The two are seen on their way to a private chat at the Haitian Presidential Palace.

ATTENTION! - The leaders stand at rapt attention during the playing of the two countries' national anthems. Bahamas Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell at right.

BAHAMAS EMBASSY MEETINGS - While in Haiti, the Bahamas/Caricom delegation also met with the US representative in Haiti (above) and again with representatives of the political opposition in Haiti (below), some of whom did not travel to Nassau.