PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - After a marathon, five-hour caucus on Tuesday, during which the volatile post-Aristide political climate in Haiti was a central issue of intense deliberations, Caricom leaders settled for what they described as a "consensus statement". To be released by the Caricom Secretariat, the statement was expected to paper over known divisions in "engagement" approaches by some member states that have been persistent since the 25th Caricom Summit in Grenada in July this year. According to ministerial sources, various factors at Tuesday's caucus session militated against a shift away from what has been perceived as a "hardline stance" by some countries, among them St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana, to officially recognise the Gerard Latortue regime. As separately claimed by the president of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo, and prime ministers Kenny Anthony of St Lucia and Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, the consensus position eventually arrived at would "vindicate" their original objections to doing "business as usual" with the eight month-old Latortue regime. Among the advocates for a "flexible" stance on collective engagement have been Barbados, Grenada and Antigua & Barbuda, with Jamaica said to have played the role "more of a mediator" between the more sharply dissenting views. The Latortue regime's failure to disarm rebels, arrest the ongoing killings and violence, and create the conditions for promised new and internationally supervised elections, have been referred to as barriers against the seating of the Latortue regime in Caricom. Speaking ahead of the release of the promised "consensus statement", President Jagdeo said that the position they collectively took at their caucus does not involve bringing Haiti into the Councils of Caricom. "But," he added, "it does reflect the strong position some of us had taken against the interruption in the democratic order in Haiti (a reference to the fall of the Aristide government) and that Caricom, like the Organisation of American States, also have principles that do not allow for countries that disrupt the democratic process to participate in the organisation..." Anthony, who has lead responsibility for Governance and Justice among Caricom leaders, said St Lucia has no problems with any member state dealing with the (post-Aristide) political problems in Haiti. But he warned that "dealing with those problems cannot be translated into a recognition of the Latortue regime by our Community." He said that although Caricom may have experienced differences over Haiti, there has always been a willingness to assist the Haitian people. "Recent events in Haiti have brought more sharply into focus the dangers involved in attempting to (collectively) recognise the Latortue regime," he added. For his part, the current chairman of Caricom, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada, said consensus was reached at their caucus for member states to provide assistance on a bilateral basis to Haiti and to "work with other groups". By taking this course, they avoid dealing with the sensitive issue of official recognition of the interim regime in Port-au-Prince. SOURCE: JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM