THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280482
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CROIX-DES-BOUQUETS, HAITI LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
In daylight, the once-busy road leading from Haiti's capital to its only international border is nearly empty.
Things change after nightfall, local residents say. Trucks rumble along the two-lane blacktop, carrying gasoline and other contraband barred by the international trade embargo that has cut most air and sea traffic to Haiti.
The United States, in an effort to slam the door on the overland route, wants to patrol the Dominican Republic side of the border with military helicopters. At stake is the success of the embargo, and perhaps whether President Clinton orders an invasion of Haiti.
Clinton has said an invasion is an option if the embargo fails to force Haiti's military to resign and allow the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, ousted in a 1991 coup. Clinton has backed up his threat by sending 2,800 Marines aboard a fleet of warships to waters off Haiti.
U.S. military brass met with officials in the Dominican Republic last week to set up the surveillance operation on Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic. But no agreement to allow the deployment has been signed yet between the United States and the Dominican Republic, U.S. diplomats said.
The Dominican government may be stalling.
President Joaquin Balauger, who has close ties with Haiti's military and business elite, has never supported sanctions, although he has promised to enforce them. Balauger and most other Dominicans fear they risk a wave of Haitians crossing the border in search of food and work if the embargo is fully implemented.
Also, the diplomats said, the surveillance is such a sensitive political issue that no permission can be expected until after a winner is declared in the May 16 presidential election. Balauger was ahead by only 31,000 votes and his closest challenger has charged fraud and called for new elections.
But U.S. diplomats are confident the Dominicans will allow the helicopter patrols. Stanley Schrager, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, said he expects the patrols to begin within two weeks.
Six Huey helicopters and surveillance and communications gear would be dispatched to the Dominican Republic, the Pentagon said.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB