PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haiti's military-controlled government is moving this Caribbean nation closer to a war footing, calling on the army and civilians to prepare to resist a military invasion.
In a communique followed by government radio broadcasts Sunday, President Emile Jonassaint's government called on the military that appointed him "to take all measures" to stop a foreign intervention.
U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, visiting Europe, said any peacekeeping forces the United States and its allies send to Haiti would number in the thousands and stay for months, not weeks.
Critics have warned that such intervention could last for years, but Perry seemed to offer a shorter timetable on NBC's Meet the Press.
The Jonassaint government also called on police, the army and other official parts of the government to "take steps to organize civil defense to defend the country against foreign troops."
The fear of an invasion was heightened on Friday, after exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told U.S. reporters that he now supports a "surgical strike" to remove the junta leaders and restore him to office.
All weekend Haitian radio stations played La Dessalinienne - Haiti's national anthem, which celebrates its independence - and other patriotic music as part of the government effort to spark unity among Haitians.
The radio stations also called together the various chief voodoo priests, to join the effort to protect Haiti.
The communique from Jonassaint, installed by the military on May 11, urges citizens to "remain calm and vigilant in the face of provocation."
U.S. warships, part of a U.N. blockade, continue to prowl off Haiti's coast well within the 3-mile limit. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters also regularly buzz close to Haiti's shore.
Jonassaint also has ordered the Justice Ministry to begin criminal legal proceedings against anyone who supports a military interdiction in Haiti, a clear reaction to comments by Aristide, ousted in a 1991 coup.
All the steps are seen as precursors to the government declaring a state of emergency.
Roadblocks have reappeared in Port-au-Prince, the capital, and throughout Haiti.
Some parts of the country, such as areas where gasoline is smuggled through, have been declared security zones where reporters are forbidden to travel. Harassment and politically connected murders, which had dropped in the days following Jonassaint taking office, are on the rise again.
But while repression is building again in the country, some coup organizers appear to be examining other options.
Miami criminal lawyer Frank Rubino, who defended Panama's Manuel Noriega, spent the weekend here to meet with Haiti's two most powerful leaders, Army head Gen. Raoul Cedras and Police chief Col. Michael Francois. The speculation: They may be looking to cut a legal deal with the United Nations.
