An Oct. 20 deadline passed with Haitian military leaders refusing to honor an agreement they signed for the return of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
U.S. ships headed to Port-au-Prince to enforce the deal, but turned away rather than risk a confrontation with gangs of armed thugs.
Efforts by U.N. Envoy Dante Caputo to pursuade strong-man Raoul Cedras to honor the agreement failed, and the U.N. reimposed sanctions, cutting off all shipments of oil and arms.
A ring of ships from several countries was set up off the Haitian coast to enforce the sanctions.
At the end of December, Haiti's military leaders refused to see a U.N. delegation, prompting the threat of stiffer sanctions including a full trade embargo and the freezing of assets of military leaders outside Haiti.
Instead of the return of Aristide, the U.N.'s year-end proposal called for a national conference to settle the fate of the Haitian government, but Cedras refused to cooperate in any way.
