Hti: Caricom may do nothing

Journalist Rickey Singh who spoke with Prime Minister Patterson, told BBC Caribbean Service he was doubtful about Caricom's involvement in a multinational force in the current circumstances.

"I don't see Caricom being part any longer of any proposed multinational force now that Aristide has been forced to resign," said Singh. "They have invested heavily in diplomacy and had a slap in the face.

"The diplomatic initiative which they've been working on for months, has been rejected and torpedoed by the insistence of France, the United States and surprisingly Canada to shift away from that original position," Singh said.

"So morally speaking, Caricom doesn't have an obligation to send its military detachments as part of any multinational force to keep law and order - for what, and for what regime?"

The heads of Caricom will not be so petty, no matter how concerned they are about "constitutional governance and the democratic process." It is to be hoped no head of Caricom thinks like Singh does and is unable to see past political process to the needs of the people in the country.