Former CARICOM chair calls for talks with Haitian gang leaders

One of the Caribbean Community’s longest-serving and most senior heads of government has called for formal talks with Haitian gang leaders, saying continued attempts to wipe them out rather than engage them will lead to nothing positive.

Roosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of the Eastern Caribbean nation of Dominica since early 2004, argues that the time has come to sit down with the slew of very violent gang leaders in much the same way as others in conflict-ridden destinations have done, like authorities in Colombia, South America.

“Sanctions are not going to change the attitude of any gang leader or member in Haiti,” he argued during a recent speech, saying that Colombian authorities had not shied away from direct negotiations with the former terrorist group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Those talks have led to a vast reduction in violent and terrorist attacks, and some of the former rebels or terrorists are now parliamentarians and or are in government. Read More