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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: Haiti: Little Hope for Political Resolution of Crisis
- Message-ID: <1992Sep15.012921.2759@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: PACH
- Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 01:29:21 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 111
-
- /** reg.carib: 293.0 **/
- ** Topic: IPS:Haiti - little hope for politic **
- ** Written 4:53 pm Sep 11, 1992 by caribdesk in cdp:reg.carib **
- From: Bob Thomson <caribdesk>
- Subject: IPS:Haiti - little hope for political re
-
- /* Written 12:10 am Sep 10, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
- /* ---------- "HAITI: LITTLE HOPE FOR POLITICAL RE" ---------- */
- Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
-
- Title: HAITI: LITTLE HOPE FOR POLITICAL RESOLUTION OF CRISIS
-
- washington, sep 7 (ips) -- the absence of prospects for a
- political solution to the haitian crisis has become glaringly
- evident following four days of inconclusive talks here between
- representatives of ousted president jea-bertrand aristide and the
- de facto government.
-
- the meeting, mediated by organization of american states (oas)
- secretary-general joao baena soares, ended friday without
- agreement and devoid of any encouraging signs.
-
- ''this phase has ended,'' catholic priest atoine adrien said
- laconically after his series of meetings with de facto foreign
- minister francois benoit.
-
- however, benoit, who represented the government of de facto
- prime minister marc bazin, said he wished to have another round
- of negotiations ''as soon as possible,'' since dialogue between
- haitians was important.
-
- in a brief communique following the encounter, baena soares
- said that while the two sides did not reach an agreement
- susceptible of yielding immediate results, he felt the
- conversations were useful because they marked the opening of a
- new communication channel.
-
- the meeting, the first between a recognized haitian government
- with absolutely no power in the caribbean country and an illegal
- regime which enjoys near absolute power there, was called by the
- oas secretary-general following a mission he led to haiti in
- mid-august.
-
- the 50-member mission included representatives of oas member
- countries, the united nations, the caribbean community and the
- european community.
-
- however, last week's encounter scarcely reflected the optimism
- baena soares had demonstrated at the end of his mission in
- mid-august, when he said there was an atmosphere conducive to a
- dialogue that could lead to a political resolution of the crisis
- sparked by aristide's ouster in a sep. 30 military coup.
-
- the talks had been originally scheduled to last one day,
- sep.1, and their prolongation had spawned optimism among oas
- members.
-
- their hopes began to dissipate friday when, at a press
- conference, adrien said his interest in the talks was to get the
- oas to send a civilian mission to haiti ensure the
- reestablishment of civil freedoms there.
-
- on the contrary, foreign minister benoit was interested in
- obtaining direct dialogue between aristide and bazin, designated
- by the military, de facto president joseph nerette and
- parliamentary leaders in may. (more)
- ----
-
-
- however, adrien said dialogue betwee bazin and aristide was
- useless because the de facto prime minister had been incapable of
- controlling the violence and repression unleashed by the
- putschists, which showed that he was powerless.
-
- humanitarian organizations like amnesty international and the
- committee of lawyers for human rights have painted discouraging
- tableaux of the generalized military repression in haiti in
- separate reports.
-
- beana soares himself admitted after the four-day meeting that
- the increasing violence and repression in the caribbean country
- were of deep concern to him.
-
- with its participants motivated by radically different
- objectives , the meeting ended without agreement and without any
- prospects for a follow-up.
-
- and the scant interest of the two participants in the
- encounter manifested itself in various ways, as on thursday when
- the oas secretary-general waited in vain for several hours for
- them to return to the oas headquarters to resume their talks.
-
- and on friday evening, when they were to have returned to the
- negotiation tablz, only adrien appeared. he left an hour later
- after his interlocutor failed to show up, although the two did
- meet later that night.
-
- the oas has been involved in the haitian crisis from day one
- of the sep. 30 coup and, on oct. 8, 1991, it slapped an economic
- and trade embargo on haiti to force the military to step down.
-
- the hemispheric body also created a civilian mission to
- monitor democracy and human rights in haiti, but has still not
- reached an agreement on sending it to the caribbean nation.
- (end/ips/trd/so/mas-vh/kb/92)
- ----
-
-
- ** End of text from cdp:reg.carib **
-
-