From: nyt@nyxfer.UUCP
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: Haiti Newsbriefs 1/20 ed-lp
Date: 21 Jan 93 04:49:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:54LPXB11w165w@nyxfer.uucp:-1268275366:000:5280
Nf-From: nyxfer.uucp!nyt    Jan 20 20:49:00 1993


Subject: Haiti Newsbriefs 1/20 ed-lp
From: nyxfer!nyt (NY Transfer News)


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

From el diario/La Prensa

Translated and edited by Toby Mailman. "el Diario/La Prensa" is 
a Spanish language newspaper published in New York City.


Haitian Army Announces Agreement to Aristide's Return

A UN envoy said that the Haitian army agreed to the 
placement of international civilian observers throughout the 
island to help re-install democracy and alleviate the refugee 
crisis. Secretary General of the Organization of American States 
(OAS) Baena Soares said from Washington, DC, that "the high 
command has assured us of their support in the process toward 
advancing the cause of democracy in Haiti." It is said that the 
government of General Raoul Cedras has accepted the plan to 
reinstate President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The UN envoy to 
Haiti, Argentine Dante Caputo, said he expected the observer 
team to be installed by the end of next week. He said the plan 
could end the military repression which Haiti has been suffering 
since September of 1991 when Aristide was deposed by a military coup. 

There are between 60 and 70 observers, according to a source
involved in the negotiations. The OAS has already send a team of 
16 observers. "If the rightful regime is installed in Haiti, the 
consequence could present a solution to the refugee problem," 
said Caputo in an interview with The Associated Press. "If one is
in a country in which violence is the only way to resolve 
political conflicts, one then would want to leave the country. 
The first step must be to put an end to the killings and the 
violence," he said. The army's announcement on state televison 
was made after a letter from Jean-Bertrand Aristide was turned 
over to the Haitian government, in which he agreed to negotiate 
with members of the coup for the first time since he was deposed,
and after a day of meetings among Caputo, army leaders and 
members of the de facto Haitian government. The announcement also
followed petitions by US president elect Bill Clinton and by 
Aristide to the Haitian people asking them not to make a mass 
exodus to the US.

Caputo was sent to Haiti to discuss among other things the 
senatorial elections of January 18, which the UN, OAS and the US 
had accused of being illegal. It was however not clear how the 
announcement of the acceptance would affect the elections in 
which the government of de facto Prime Minister Marc Bazin had the
majority in the Senate. A UN source who spoke on January 17 on 
condition on anonymity, said the agreement meant that the army 
would accept the establishment of a civilian observer force to 
supervise the process of the installation of democracy. The army 
also accepted the naming of an interim prime minister.

The source added that the current Bazin government, backed 
by the military, had not accepted a framework for the 
negotiations, but another meeting between Caputo and Bazin was 
planned for January 18. Baena said Caputo would return on that 
date.

The plan approved by the OAS and the UN established a first step
with the massive placement of civilian officials who will be
observers in regard to public guarantees throughout the country.
Once the independence of the legislative power is achieved,
Aristide will designate a prime minister for the building of a
government of national reconciliation which would assure the
freedom of the judiciary and create a police force independent of
the armed forces and reduce them to their specific functions.
Once the process is complete, Aristide will return to Haiti.

Minutes after the announcement by the army the government 
asked the Haitians not to go to the US by sea and warned them 
that the clandestine refugees voyages are illegal.

The army's announcement said that "the high command assured
Mr. Caputo of its support... for the establishment of a process 
toward advancing the cause of democracy in Haiti." (edlp 01/18/93
from AP)


Low Turnout in Haitian Elections

According to the Associated Press report, there was little 
turn out for elections held in Haiti on January 18 for 10 seats 
in the Senate and 4 in the Chamber of Deputies. The elections 
were scheduled in only 14 districts of the country, including the
capitol, Port-au-Prince. Many Haitians, fearing violence or being
forced to vote, left their homes on January 17 for various 
provincial cities. Dante Caputo, a UN envoy, tried in vain the 
get the Haitian government to cancel the elections, which the US,
the UN and the Organization of American States (OAS) considered 
to be illegal. Caputo said he had achieved the agreement of the 
military and the government to have 60 to 70 international 
observers in Haiti to oversee the human rights situation. The US 
is hoping this will convince Haitians to stay in their country 
and not try for a mass exodus to the US. (edlp 01/19/93 from AP)


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