UN General Assembly
1988

In the Caribbean itself, we have been concerned at the developments that have occurred in our sister country of Haiti. Over the past year, Saint Lucia has repeatedly called for a return to the democratic process, for selection by election, and not by dictation, for the fulfilment of the provisions of the new Haitian Constitution, and for the creation of an opportunity for the re-flowering and rebirth of the spirit of a people whose forefathers pioneered the path to freedom in this hemisphere. It is not too late. We urge the new leaders in Haiti to seize the time to launch their country firmly on the path of democratic process, as so many other dictatorships in the hemisphere have recently done. Those who first lit the revolutionary torch so many decades ago should not now be lagging behind in the wake of change. The region awaits a new and democratic Haiti. The people of Haiti desire it. The moment is in their hands.