
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994                    TAG: 9406220451 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A5    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE 
DATELINE: 940622                                 LENGTH: WASHINGTON

U.S. TO SEND TROOPS TO HELP DOMINICANS GUARD HAITIAN BORDER \

{LEAD} The Clinton administration plans to send U.S. troops, helicopters, all-terrain vehicles and other equipment to help the Dominican Republic seal its border to smugglers from Haiti, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The American troops, which would number no more than several dozen, are to take part in a multinational mission that will help the Dominican military enforce the month-old world ban on trade with Haiti, the officials said.

{REST} The mission, which would have no combat role and is tentatively limited to 88 international monitors, would advise and observe some 15,000 Dominican troops already assembled along the country's 200-mile border with Haiti.

The administration is negotiating with Canada, Argentina and other nations to participate in the mission, which could begin within a week or two, said one senior U.S. envoy. ``We'll do whatever is fastest,'' the envoy said.

Preparations for the mission come amid reports that widespread smuggling of gasoline and other critical supplies into Haiti continues unabated across the border despite a show of determination by Dominican President Joaquin Balaguer to halt it.

Balaguer, who has long spurned U.S. efforts to isolate Haiti's ruling military chiefs, last month assured President Clinton's special adviser for Haiti, William Gray, that he was prepared to enforce a United Nations-backed trade embargo against Haiti to restore civilian, democratic rule there.

The Dominican president promptly deployed about half his nation's armed forces to the border and replaced many border guards who had lined their pockets with bribes. He also agreed to welcome the observers and other assistance, including U.S.-made radios and night vision equipment.

As a result of the new enforcement, the price of gas in Haiti quickly rose to $8 or $9 a gallon. But in recent days it has dipped to about $6 a gallon, raising the concern of some Haiti-watchers that Balaguer's commitment to the embargo is illusory or the task of patrolling the largely unsettled hill country is simply too great.

by CNB