64
Tuesday, September 27, 1994
NATION/WORLD
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Haitian refugees depart U.S. base return to home
The Associated Press
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The last time Haitian refugees returned to their homeland they endured the taunts and threats of military goons. But the 221 boat people who stepped ashore yesterday came home to a new situation: a country protected by American troops.
The refugees who sailed into the capital's port aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Northland were the first to return since 15,000 American troops began arriving in this Caribbean nation a week earlier.
Although the Haitians had agreed to be returned from detention at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, they looked glum and confused as they stepped off the cutter and headed toward homes many hoped they had left for good.
Some returnees carried their meager possessions in their arms — a single blanket, or a bundle of clothing. A few smiled and waved at journalists. Most just stared in awe at the soldiers gathered on the pier.
"They are excited about the prospects of coming home, but apprehensive about what they are going to find here," said Cmdr. Jim Decker, skipper of the Northland. "We have done our best to calm their fears."
The refugees were greeted at the dock by U.S. Ambassador William Swing and Lt. Gen. Hugh Shelton, commander of the U.S. operation in Haiti.
The refugees returning yesterday were mostly young men, along with a few women and children and at least three babies. They were housed on the ship's helicopter deck under a blue canvas canopy during the daylong trip from Guantanamo Bay.
There are about 14,000 Haitian refugees at Guantanamo, and the Clinton administration wants as many as possible to agree to go home. A second group left yesterday and was expected here today.
Clinton lifts most Haiti sanctions
U.S. forces greeted treated as friends not foes by Haitians
The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — Citing "a moment of opportunity" for democracy, President Clinton lifted travel, economic and most other U.S. sanctions against Haiti yesterday and urged other nations to follow suit.
Clinton told the U.N. General Assembly that lifting the sanctions would hasten rebuilding of the impoverished country and was being done "in the spirit of reconciliation and reconstruction."
He suggested the sanctions were no longer needed, with American and other forces firmly in place in the Caribbean country to enforce the U.S.-brokered agreement to restore exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power by Oct. 15.
But Clinton said some sanctions would remain in force including a freezing of bank accounts and other assets against Haiti's military leaders and their supporters.
The U.S. government has a list of 600 people with ties to Haiti's military who will remain under the sanctions. officials said.
Madeleine Albright, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters that leaving the sanctions in place on the military leaders and their associates was designed to turn up the heat on them to leave the country by Oct. 15.
She said the United States would seek a quick vote on lifting remaining U.N. trade sanctions on Haiti, even though it may contain a "trigger" that they would not be fully removed until Aristide is back in power.
The United States is encouraging exiled Haitian parliamentarians to return for a key session tomorrow in Port-au-Prince to consider amnesty legislation, an important step in persuading the military leaders to leave. U.S. forces will provide security for the legislators once the session is convened.
A week after American soldiers and Marines landed peacefully, Clinton said the operation demonstrates that "progress can be made when a coalition backs up diplomacy with military power."
At the Pentagon, meanwhile, Defense Secretary William Perry cautioned that while U.S. troops are being greeted "as friends and not invaders" in Haiti, it is critical that
humanitarian aid begin flowing to maintain that idea.
Taking note of the violence over the weekend in Cap-Haitien, Perry said that U.S. forces have been told to defend themselves and that the Marines involved in the shoot-out had acted within the military's rules of engagement.
He cautioned Congress about setting a specific date for troop withdrawal, saying that would "complicate our military operations."
Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said his committee will take up a Haiti resolution tomorrow, setting a binding date around March 1 for withdrawal.
The limits would apply only to the first stage of the operation to restore Haitian democracy, not the second stage in which a U.N. peacekeeping mission, including some U.S. troops, will move in, Hamilton said.
"In the best of all worlds there would be no date," he said, "but I don't think that's realistic in the current political environment."
Public approval of Clinton's Haiti policies, for example, has fallen by 10 percent since U.S. troopers began landing there, according to a new poll.
Haiti travel looking safe
Adam, owner and manager of Travel 54, a travel agency in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood, couldn't enter names into her computer fast enough.
The Associated Press
MIAMI — The lifting of U.S. sanctions against Haiti wasn't two hours old and Claudie Adam already had a list of 50 Haitians who wanted to go home.
"I have your name on the list," she called to a man who poked his head in the door. "Don't worry."
"He wants the first plane out," she explained.
President Clinton yesterday lifted most U.S. economic sanctions against Haiti. Commercial airline flights were expected to resume in a matter of days.
"I will be there soon," said Lavarie Gaudin, an executive with Veye Ye, an organization that supports Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted in a 1991 coup. "Once we know the president will be back, I'll go."
Haitians optimistic as law and order return
The Associated Press
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - "Jubilant crowds welcomed American military police yesterday as they set up shop in local police stations.
At the downtown dock, 221 Haitain refugees arrived on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, having chosen to leave the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were greeted by U.S. Ambassador William Swing, given $15 in Haitian money, more than the average weekly pay in Haiti, and taken to the nearby bus station to complete their journeys.
The United States also announced a cash-for-weapons program to start today, hoping to encourage more Haitians to turn guns taken from the hated Haitian army and police over to U.S. troops.
Haitians used to avoid or hurry
past the dreaded building where their neighbors were jailed and tortured. Now many are becoming bolder as U.S. forces begin spreading throughout this city of 1 million.
U. S. officials announced last week that MPs would be stationed at six police stations to work side-by-side with Haitian police and try to reduce human rights abuses. By yesterday, MPs were in at least three stations.
"We came here to make a presence and ... exchange ideas," said Capt. Randy Durdian of the 101st Airborne Division as his men moved into a station in suburban Petionville.
The festive downtown gathering
"We are here to learn from them how to do things in their own structure and show them how to do things in a democratic society so we can make the transition a smooth one."
didn't last long, but it showed Haitians' increasing optimism that a rule of law was being enforced, and that Aristide really may be coming home soon.
At the United Nations, President Clinton lifted travel, trade and most other U.S. sanctions against Haiti yesterday and urged other nations to follow suit. Aristide himself had urged an end to the sanctions on Sunday.
Many Haitians interviewed yesterday in an open-air market downtown were thrilled by the news, anticipating cheaper prices for food and the end of a $50 cap on how much money could be wired from relatives in the United States.
But several Aristide supporters were wary nonetheless that an end to sanctions too soon may hurt efforts to bring back Aristide. "We want Aristide back, too!" said a 36-year-old man named Casseus.
The Associated Press
Health care put on hold until next Congressional session
WASHINGTON — Health care reform, moribund for weeks, was pronounced dead yesterday for this session of Congress by Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell.
The Maine Democrat blamed Republicans, saying he had been unable to find the 60 votes needed to end an inevitable GOP filibuster.
"It is clear that health insurance reform cannot be enacted this year," Mitchell told a news conference.
Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole denied the Republicans were to blame and said it was overwhelming public opposition, not parliamentary roadblocks, that undid the
Democrats' health plans.
"They never had 50 votes for any of their plans," Dole said.
In New York, where he was attending a United Nations session, President Clinton said of the defeat of his major domestic initiative, "I am very sorry that this means Congress isn't going to reform health care this year. But we are not giving up on our mission to cover every American and to control health care costs.
"Although we have not achieved our goal this year, Hillary and I are proud — and our allies should be proud as well — that we were able to bring this debate further than it has ever progressed."
all the American people, and we have come too far to just walk away now," he added in a statement.
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, who led the conservative opposition to the Clinton plan and its descendants, said he was "grateful that the president and the Democrats have now abandoned their crusade for government-run health care, at least for this year."
"There is just too much at stake for
He said voters should "express their opinion on health care in the November election by electing or rejecting Clinton allies at the polls."
Other Democrats echoed Mitchell's charges of Republican obstructionism. They said the problems of the 39 million Americans
without health insurance wouldn't disappear, and they would fight for changes next year.
House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., said, "Reforming our health care system is one issue that will not go away." He vowed to "press the fight for guaranteed, affordable health care in the coming Congress."
"Congress has done the right thing by not rushing health care reform," said Richard L. Lesher, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
In pulling the plug, Mitchell ignored advice from liberals who wanted to push forward a stripped-down bill covering children, if only to force Republicans to vote against
it.
The action came one year and four days after Clinton went before Congress to unveil his vision of "health care that's always there"—guaranteed insurance for all Americans regardless of their health or wealth. Hillary Rodham Clinton helped draft the plan and was its foremost saleswoman.
Clinton ran into a wall of opposition from small businesses, the insurance industry and others alarmed by his 1,342-page proposal. It featured mandatory employer contributions, compulsory health insurance purchasing alliances for most Americans and standby price controls on insurance premiums.
WASHINGTON- On the eve of a two-day state visit by Boris Yeltsin, President Clinton said yesterday the United States and Russia have a partnership that is working despite some major differences.
Clinton and Yeltsin addressed the United Nations, four hours apart, to set the stage for their talks at the White House.
Russia's woes are focus of Yeltsin visit
"The entire world has a vital stake in the establishment of a strategic partnership between Russia and the United States."
"Today, Russia is a threat to no one," the Russian president said.
It will be the fifth meeting between Clinton and Yeltsin, coming at a moment of relative strength for the Russian leader. A year ago, Yeltsin disbanded the Soviet-era parliament, triggering street battles that left scores dead.
Yeltsin suggested that the major nuclear powers consider a ban on production of material used in making nuclear weapons. He also urged an agreement by next year banning all nuclear testing. Clinton has suspended such tests.
Madeleine Albright, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called Yeltsin's proposals creative and intriguing but said they would require a lot of study.
Clinton and Yeltsin are expected to pledge to make further reductions in their nuclear arsenals without negotiating new treaties.
While arms-control issues will be discussed, there will be a heavy emphasis on trade issues, including a White House meeting of Clinton, Yeltsin and senior business executives discussing what Russia needs to do to attract more American investments.
The two leaders also are expected to discuss differences over Bosnia, Russian involvement in former Soviet republics and the expansion of NATO.
Clinton alluded to the disagreements even as he praised ties between the two countries. "This is a partnership that is rooted in democracy, a partnership that is working, a partnership of not complete agreement but genuine mutual respect," Clinton said.
"After so many years of nuclear terror, our two nations are taking dramatic steps to ease tensions around the world," he added.
Clinton said Washington and Moscow recognize they must cooperate to control the emerging danger of terrorists who traffic in nuclear materials.
The two presidents are expected to sign an agreement to begin negotiations this winter on guaranteeing that once nuclear warheads are dismantled, the process is irreversible. They also are to sign an economic-partnership accord on investment and development in Russia.
The Russian leader met with business leaders in New York before traveling to Washington. "He said, 'Come to Russia. Bring technology and capital,'" financier Henry Kravis told reporters afterward. "He's a good salesman."
Yeltsin will be welcomed with pomp and ceremony at a formal White House arrival ceremony today before talks in the Oval Office. He will be the president's guest tonight at a formal state dinner, only the second of Clinton's presidency.
KU EQUESTRIAN
Informational Meeting and Picnic
Thursday September 29 at 6:30
Contact For Information
Jon Koch 864-121 for Jenny Jauber 749-6714
Twosday Special
You won't be hungry an hour after our buffet
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Dinner Buffet 6.95
Lunch Buffet 4.95
Sun.Brunch 5.95
841 - 1688
(across from Dillon's on 6th)