President Hipolito Mejia announced yesterday he was suspending his day trip today to Haiti to attend the inaugural of Jean Bertrand Aristide. Mejia would have been the only statesman to attend the inaugural. He announced the trip was suspended following security recommendations. Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp will represent the DR at the inaugural of Jean Bertrand Aristide. In its editorial today, El Caribe newspaper affirms that most experts consider President Aristide has two roads ahead: 1) To fulfill his word to former President Clinton and open to democracy within Haiti and fight drug trafficking. This route would allow the return of international aid and would lead to good relations with Dominican neighbors. 2) To blame the international community for the problems in Haiti and lean on the governments of Fidel Castro in Cuba (that have been offering medical help and reconstructing a sugar mill) and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela that has offered economic and political assistance. El Caribe newspaper feels that the second road would lead the statesman to exacerbate anti-Dominican feelings in Haiti, a self-defense mechanism of what would be an internationally isolated government. The newspaper hopes that Aristide will choose the first road.
