Consensus government is only way for Haiti - Column

0 Comments | Insight on the News, June 28, 1993 | by Daniel James

President Clinton's latest policy failure, the Haitian military government's rejection of a U.N.-U.S. plan to send in a 500-person multinational police force to monitor human rights, could have been avoided.

Fixated on the generals in power, the administration ignored what everyone in Haiti knows: Its people are as one in opposition to having any foreign armed force imposed on them. They remember all too well the 1915-1934 U.S. Marine occupation, which only spawned dictators, as in Nicaragua.

"It is a matter of national pride," explains a prominent Haitian exile, Leon Veillard. "Haitians reject the insulting idea of being policed by small countries such as Belize. After all, we won our independence nearly 200 years ago." Veillard alludes to the proposal that the multinational force be composed primarily of officers from independent black countries in the region.

Even supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide denounce the plan as foreign intervention. Victor Benoit, the leader of Aristide's National Front for Democratic Change, recently went on record to that effect. Thus, supporters of Aristide, who reportedly favors the plan, appear to differ sharply with him.

About a dozen political parties from right to left also oppose the plan. They include the Communists, led by Rene Theodore, whom Aristide wanted as his prime minister. His deputy issued a statement on May 11 denouncing the plan.

Why, in the face of near unanimous opposition in Haiti, did Clinton's new emissary, Lawrence Pezzullo, an old hand on Latin America, join in the White House charade to make the world think Haiti's leaders agreed with the plan?

As the New York Times's Howard French quoted a diplomat in Haiti on May 25, "For weeks, the Americans have been telling everyone that the army is in agreement" with the plan, but in reality, "there is nothing to it."

On the heels of the administration's failed wait-and-see Bosnia policy, the danger is that the Haitian crisis also will be allowed to fester. But that would only hasten the day when the long-awaited exodus to the United States of masses of destitute Haitians actually begins. An estimated 1,000 boats remain ready to transport them.

What can be done to avert a catastrophe?

There is a move afoot in Haiti to form a consensus government representing all parties, including Aristide's, but excluding the military Fresh reports indicate that the military is eager to relinquish power. It stands ready to turn power over only to Haitians, if they can organize a multiparty provisional government.

Haiti's chief political parties have met and agreed upon the following:

* A consensus government should be formed consisting of representatives of the political sector, the business community and professional groups. The military would not be represented nor participate in negotiations.

* Efforts to return Aristide to power should cease.

* Elections for a new president should be held within three years.

* Lifting the economic embargo against Haiti is indispensable to the country's progress, as is foreign economic and technical assistance to rebuild the shattered economy.

Haitian sources say the military government accepts these proposals.

"At least 20 Haitian leaders are ready to go to Washington to convince President Clinton that a consensus government is the only way out," says Veillard, who is in frequent contact with many of these leaders.

It is difficult to see any other viable alternative. Aristide, though freely elected, proved to be a despot who resorted to terror and violence against dissidents. Besides, he was an avowed enemy of the United States. The Clinton administration must realize it cannot force democracy on a country that has never known it.

Daniel James, a longtime reporter on Caribbean and Latin American affairs, is the author of several books on the subject.