Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 27, 1994 TAG: 9409270113
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune NOTE: lede
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A week after U.S. troops swept into the Caribbean nation, Clinton also vowed to work swiftly to upgrade Haitians' health care, water and electrical services, while providing materials for construction, agriculture and communications.
The action was timed to yield concrete and obvious benefits for average Haitians when their elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, returns in less than a month, U.S. officials said.
As Clinton spoke at the United Nations, diplomatic and military officials in Washington and Port-au-Prince were making other plans designed to smooth the path to democracy in Haiti.
American troops will guard Haiti's elected legislators so they can emerge from hiding and attend the first session in months of the Haitian Parliament - scheduled for Wednesday by Aristide. The meeting is crucial for Haiti's transition, because it will open debate on an amnesty law demanded by the country's military rulers as a condition for stepping down by Oct. 15.
The Parliament has been unable to muster a quorum for months because many of its legitimate members fear for their lives and are in hiding or living in exile. U.S. officials said 10 deputies and one senator who fled to the United States would return under protection to Haiti.
But it was Clinton's speech that attracted the most attention Monday. His action:
Ends sanctions that cut off all scheduled U.S. flights to Haiti, halted all business transactions and froze the U.S. assets of Haitian nationals.
Allows the sale of all food items, where previously only the export of staples such as wheat and beans was permitted.
Frees up the U.S. assets and properties of Haitians who are not directly linked to the Haitian military, including most of some 250 members of Haiti's most prominent and wealthy families.
Lets U.S. residents send any amount of money they wish to family and friends within Haiti, scrapping a limit of $50 a month per sender.
Authorizes sending a wide variety of food, medical, humanitarian and informational supplies to Haiti and allows the export of fuel for electrical power generation.
But it left in place a U.N. ban on trade with Haiti, as well as a U.S. order freezing the assets and barring U.S. travel visas for about 600 Haitian military officers, their families and members of the puppet government.
by CNB