THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 20, 1994 TAG: 9409200309
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Guy D. Auguste watched more television on Sunday than he has during the entire year.
All five screens in his Chesapeake home were tuned to CNN from 9 a.m. until almost midnight as an impending invasion of his homeland began, then halted after news of an agreement reached between former President Jimmy Carter and Haiti's military leader, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras.
``In my mind, there was no doubt that a lot of Haitians were going to get killed,'' said Auguste, 45. ``The force was overwhelming.''
Not daring to leave his house, Auguste spoke with his brother in Canada five times as the day unfolded in what he called the closest call of military events he's ever seen.
The relief felt by Auguste and other Haitians across Hampton Roads was short-lived though, as new concerns surfaced about the terms of the deal struck between Carter and Cedras.
``I'll believe it when I see it,'' said Paul Jean-Louis of the Oct. 15 deadline set for Cedras and other military rulers to relinquish power.
Jean-Louis came to Norfolk in July after gaining asylum through the United States Embassy in Haiti.
``These military people have signed accords before and they haven't kept them,'' Jean-Louis said, referring to the Governor's Island accords that called for Cedras to step down by October 1993.
Many were grateful that Haiti was spared from being another Panama, where civilians died during a midnight U.S. invasion in December 1989.
``I was relieved to see that the situation in Haiti is finally being managed peacefully,'' said Dr. Joseph David, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Fort Justice Hospital in Newport News.
But the champagne David was ready to break out Sunday night stayed in the refrigerator: ``Cedras is still there with all the possibility of continuing to harm the country,'' David said. ``That is not what Clinton was offering in his speech. He said they have to leave immediately or else invasion.''
Some Haitians say the saturation of Haiti's cities and villages by U.S.-led occupation forces will guarantee Cedras' compliance with the accords.
``Cedras has backed himself into a corner and there is no way he can back out,'' Auguste said.
Though he disagreed with the amnesty Cedras and other de facto rulers will receive, Auguste said the critical issue now is how to make democracy take hold in a country driven by military regimes.
``The U.S. should stay in there as long as it takes to restore democracy,'' Auguste said. ``There should be no doubt about who is going to run the country for the next couple of months.''
Others argue that the history of the United States' 19-year occupation in Haiti proves that foreign solutions never stick.
``I was born during the occupation,'' said Dr. Louis Noisin, a former president of the Haitian Senate who now teaches at Christopher Newport University.
Noisin was 8 years old when he saw the last Marine contingent leave the island in 1934.
``They were treating the Haitians like slaves then. You don't humiliate a country like that twice,'' Noisin said.
Those with family still in Haiti fear that the combination of U.S. forces unfamiliar with the country and some hostile citizens could be an explosive one.
``I have a 16-year-old daughter in Haiti,'' said Isaac Monode, 38, of Norfolk. ``So I have plenty of reason to worry. My body is here but my heart is definitely not.''
Monode was shocked by the news that the accords would not require Cedras to leave the country after stepping down.
``Cedras and Aristide, they are like two chickens ready to go in a cockfight,'' Monode said. ``They have to be tied down to two opposite ends of the arena to make anything happen in Haiti.''
But the long-term problems facing the island republic may reach far beyond the personalities of either leader.
``The problem is not Aristide vs. Cedras,'' Paul Jean-Louis said. ``They are just two people. The problem is one of applying the law. As long as Haiti can't learn to apply the law, there will be vengeance on both sides, and that's the reason the country doesn't work.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/
Therese Jean-Louis lives in Norfolk with her husband, Paul, and
their five children. The family came to Norfolk in July after
gaining asylum through the United States Embassy in Haiti.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB