Jesuit with ties to Haiti calls for international support

Jesuit with ties to Haiti calls for international support

Rev. Paul E. Carrier, S.J., director of campus ministry at Fairfield University who travels to Cap Haitien monthly to lend his support to a program for street children, says the international community is not doing enough to help the people who are suffering there. Fr. Carrier is in daily communication with the Cap Haitien group and says the current "peace talks" seem to be merely a stalling technique for the rebels who want President Aristide to resign. The rebels, he says, are not a united group, but rather are five or six small armies made up in part by former coup leaders and death squad leaders who have come in through the Dominican Republic. In the meantime, a population of some of the world's poorest people who were barely getting by to begin with, are bearing the brunt of the violence and lack of food and water.

"I don't think people throughout the world understand just how bad the situation is in Haiti. I want to believe that if they did, more groups would be coming forward to try to end the violence and bring food and supplies to the people," Fr. Carrier said.

To arrange an interview with Fr. Carrier, please call Nancy Habetz, director of media relations, (203) 254-4000, ext. 2647. After business hours, (203) 259-1884 or (203) 451-1725 (cell phone).

Posted On: 02-23-2004 10:02 AM

Volume: 36 Number: 197