THE Caribbean Community (CARIOM) has condemned views reportedly expressed by U.S. President Donald Trump, labelling Haiti and some African countries in a derogatory manner.
Sources in the White House confirmed to several U.S. media outlets that Trump made the utterance during a meeting in which he rejected a bipartisan deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

Haiti is a member of CARICOM which has been on the receiving end of unpleasant remarks, due to economic and political instability aggravated by multiple factors.
CARICOM said in a statement on Saturday that it was “deeply disturbed” about this use of “derogatory and repulsive language” by the U.S. President.
The regional bloc said it condemns in the strongest terms, the unenlightened views reportedly expressed, and was especially saddened that such narrative emerged around the time of the anniversary of the devastating 2010 earthquake which killed 300,000 Haitians.

“Of additional concern, is this pattern of denigrating Haiti and its citizens in what seems to be a concerted attempt to perpetuate a negative narrative of the country,” CARICOM said.
Last year, the New York Times reported that during a meeting, Trump allegedly said Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS”.

The community said that it should be recalled that Haiti is the second democracy in the Western Hemisphere after the United States, and that Haitians continue to contribute significantly in many spheres to the global community and particularly to the U.S.
During the 18th Century, Haiti was France’s wealthiest colony. Much of the money earned from the plantations in Haiti were used to finance the American Revolution which resulted in the U.S. gaining independence.

“CARICOM therefore views this insult to the character of the countries named and their citizens as totally unacceptable,” the community said.
However, Trump has since denied the accusations, tweeting: “Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said ‘take them out.’ Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians.”

The international community has not taken the issue lightly, as many African and Latin American leaders have condemned the views which many of them described as “racist”.