ACCESSION
NUMBER:353105
FILE ID:POL503
DATE:07/15/94
TITLE:STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, FRIDAY, JULY 15 (07/15/94)
TEXT:*94071503.POL
STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, FRIDAY, JULY 15
(Haiti, Colombia) (630)
There was no State Department news briefing. However, acting spokesman
David Johnson informally discussed the following topics with reporters:
MORE HAITIAN BOAT PEOPLE PICKED UP BY U.S. COAST GUARD
The acting spokesman said he was not in a position to elaborate on Secretary
of State Christopher's remarks, made earlier in the day, that the United
States is continuing to consult with hemispheric nations about the makeup
of a multinational force for Haiti once its de facto military leadership
departs.
The consultations the United States has had with countries in the region and
1lsewhere have all been on the basis of a voluntary departure of Haiti's
military strongman General Raoul Cedras and his colleagues, Johnson said.
"We've been talking to about a dozen countries," he said.
While reiterating President Clinton's position that "other options are not
ruled out," Johnson stressed that "the premise" of the continuing
consultations is "a voluntary departure" of Cedras.
Haitians continue to flee their island nation, although in smaller numbers
than recent days. Johnson said the U.S. Coast Guard picked up 78 Haitians
from four boats on July 14, bringing to 20,430 the number of boat people
picked up since mid-June.
Seventy-eight is the smallest number of boat people picked up on a single
day since June 20. "It's too early to speculate on whether the trend will
continue," Johnson said. "We do know that the weather has been bad with
high seas off Haiti. This has had an effect on the number of departures.
We cannot discount the possibility of an increased outflow."
At present, there are some 16,300 Haitians at the Guantanamo processing
facility, the acting spokesman said. Approximately 9,600 are awaiting
processing for either voluntary repatriation or temporary protection.
Exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was to begin broadcasting to the
Haitian people late July 15 with U.S. government assistance under a program
called Radio Democracy. The program will be transmitted from facilities
aboard Department of Defense aircraft which will beam both AM and FM radio
signals to all of Haiti.
Aristide has described Radio Democracy as a joint action by the Haitian and
U.S. governments to promote their desire to see democracy restored in
Haiti. Initial broadcasts will be tapes of Aristide. "He will bring a
message of reconciliation, the restoration of democracy, and reassurances
of personal safety to all sectors of Haitian society," Johnson said.
U.S. HOPES FOR STRONG COLOMBIAN ANTI-NARCOTICS EFFORT
Johnson noted that the United States, in recent months, has had several
issues under discussion with Colombia, including radar intelligence-sharing
and the reports that the campaign of President-elect Ernesto Samper
accepted contributions from drug traffickers.
"Concerning radar intelligence-sharing, the president three weeks ago sent
Congress proposed legislation that would permit us to resume
intelligence-sharing with Colombia and Peru," the acting spokesman said.
"The Senate has already passed the bill. We hope the House will act with
similar dispatch."
Meanwhile, he said, the United States is working with Colombia and Peru to
reach an interim agreement that would address the concerns posed by
domestic and international law and permit the United States to resume
counter-narcotics cooperation with the two countries even while the
legislation is pending.
"With respect to President-elect Samper, I would say that at this point,
decisive action by Colombia on the counter-narcotics front is the key to
our relationship with the forthcoming Samper administration," the acting
spokesman declared. "We hope that he will continue Colombia's long history
of counter-narcotics cooperation with the United States and become a full
partner in the international effort against the illegal drug trade and the
Colombian cartels that dominate it," Johnson said.
NNNN
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