Officials from around the Americas declare war on corruption, offer support for Haiti

By Monte Hayes, Associated Press

Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/161/world/Officials_from_around_the_Amer:.shtml

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) Despite initial objections from the
United States and Haiti, the Organization of American
States opened the way for an investigation into the
ouster of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The OAS General Assembly also called for elections in
Haiti as soon as possible. But the debate over a probe
into Aristide’s ouster went for hours until the body on
Tuesday night finally approved a resolution allowing an
assessment of what occurred.

Aristide accuses the United States of forcing him from
office a charge Washington denies. A U.S.-supplied jet
flew Aristide to the Central African Republic on Feb.
29 as rebels advanced on the Haitian capital of Port-
au-Prince, and he is now in asylum in South Africa
after spending several weeks in Jamaica.

Foreign ministers from around the Americas also
declared war on the deeply ingrained corruption in the
region at the end of a two-day meeting in this Andean
capital.

The ministers committed their nations to undertaking
"all the diplomatic initiatives necessary" to promote
democracy in Haiti.

They also urged "the transitional government in Haiti
to create conditions conducive to the holding of free,
fair and democratic elections in Haiti as soon as
possible."

They invoked Article 20 of the organization’s charter,
which allows it to undertake a "collective
assessment" of a country "in the event of
unconstitutional alterations of the constitutional
regime that seriously impairs the democratic order."

Haiti’s new government and U.S. officials were opposed
to invoking Article 20, but CARICOM, a grouping of
Caribbean nations, insisted on its inclusion.

After the resolution was passed, U.S. Ambassador John
Maisto questioned the suggestion that Aristide’s
departure was unconstitutional, implied by the use of
Article 20.

"If Aristide’s ouster was unconstitutional, how can
you have a government in place that is constitutional
and legal?" he told The Associated Press Wednesday.

But he said Tuesday’s resolution does not dwell on the
past. "Everybody is in full agreement that we have to
move forward to help the transition government."

After Aristide’s ouster, multinational forces entered
the country to re-establish order under the authority
of the United Nations Security Council.

The 15-member Caribbean Community still refuses to
recognize Haiti’s new government.

In other discussions, Secretary of State Colin Powell
urged nations to "advance democratic governance and
economic growth in this region" by fighting
corruption.

"Corruption is deeply destructive of our people’s
faith in democracy," he said Monday during a debate on
the general assembly’s final document. "Corruption
scares off investors, denying countries the money they
need to lift themselves out of poverty and onto the
road to sustainable development."

The document, signed by 34 foreign ministers or heads
of delegations, recognizes "that corruption has a
serious impact on public and private institutions,
weakens economic growth and impinges upon the needs and
fundamental interests of a country’s most vulnerable
social groups."

The foreign ministers pledged to keep corrupt officials
from entering their countries and agreed to cooperate
in the recovery of stolen funds.

In a last minute change to the document, foreign
ministers agreed to "cooperate in the extradition" of
officials accused of corruption.

But some ministers, including Argentina’s Rafael
Bielsa, expressed doubt about how effective the measure
would be. Asked if all countries would respect the
recommendation, he noted that Chile’s high court on
Tuesday denied for the second time in two weeks an
Argentine request to extradite former President Carlos
Menem.

Mexico, which has a long history of providing refugee
to officials who say they are fleeing political
persecution, had opposed the extradition proposal.

The United States also was unsuccessful in persuading
other hemispheric nations to agree to impose sanctions
on corrupt governments.

"Governments are not corrupt," Peruvian Foreign
Minister Manuel Rodriguez told The Associated Press
during a break in the debate. "Members of a given
government are corrupt."

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/161/world/Officials_from_around_the_Amer:.shtml