By Amy Bracken
But it was unclear whether his foes — a disparate coalition of businessmen, church and civic groups, political opponents and students — would also agree to the meeting being brokered by the Caribbean Community regional bloc.
The potential encounter in
Christie was in
Aristide, who recently called for new elections within six months, said at a news conference on Sunday that he accepted CARICOM’s invitation to the talks in
“I will be with you in Kingston, Jamaica, (where I hope) all of my brothers and sisters of the opposition, civil society and Lavalas (ruling party) will work toward a solution because that solution is indispensable to the future of Haiti,” he said.
Dozens have died in clashes between protesters who have been taking to the streets in increasing numbers and armed Aristide supporters. Both sides blame each other for the violence, but most attacks appear to be carried out by backers of the president.
A former Roman Catholic priest, Aristide became
The crux of the standoff with the opposition is a disputed parliamentary election in 2000, the year of Aristide’s re-election. The impasse has prevented a new ballot from taking place and the terms of most Haitian legislators expired this month, immobilizing parliament.
The opposition, which has rejected Aristide’s call for new elections because it said conditions did not exist for a free and fair vote, did not immediately respond to the talks proposal.
At the meeting last week with opposition leaders in the
Members of the opposition broadly mistrust the