The Restoration of Democracy in Haiti
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The Restoration of Democracy in Haiti
Press Briefing by Deputy
Secretary of tate Strobe
Talbott and Deputy
Secretary of Defense
John Deutch, August 31,
1994'
(Introductory remarks omitted)
Deputy Secretary Talbott. I know
there was and continues to be quite a
bit of interest, so we thought we would
take this opportunity to give you a
report on our one-day trip to Jamaica
for the CARICOM [Caribbean
Community] joint ministerial meeting
and to the Dominican Republic to meet
with the leadership there and also to
visit the base of the multilateral
observer group that is going to be
helping the Dominicans enforce the
sanctions along the Dominican-Haitian
border.
Let me just say a word or two by
way of introduction of Secretary
Deutch. There has been a lot in the
commentary as well as the news articles
about our Haiti policy-about signals
and messages, and those two words
appeared in a couple of the pieces that
reported on our trip yesterday. We
make no bones about the fact that we
are, indeed, trying to send a very clear
signal and a very clear message,
primarily to the leadership in
Port-au-Prince, and we welcome the
chance, quite candidly, to reinforce that
signal and that message again today.
U.N. Security Council Resolution
940 authorizes the international
community-the member states of the
United Nations-to use all necessary
means to bring about the departure of
the dictators from Haiti and to establish
the conditions that allow the restoration
of democracy in Haiti.
What was significant about
yesterday's meeting in Jamaica was that
the CARICOM countries committed
themselves as a group to support
Resolution 940 and, very specifically,
to the all necessary means provision.
Four of the seven member states of
CARICOM that have military forces
committed themselves to contribute
and participate in what we are calling
the Multinational Force, or MNF.
This would be the force that would go
into Haiti-either under permissive or
hostile circumstances-in order to
carry out the will of the international
community.
The four states that have committed
to participate are Jamaica, Barbados,
Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago. The
other three-Antigua, Bahamas, and
Guyana-are involved in discussions
with our government, and we think it
is quite possible, indeed likely, that
some of them also will contribute. But
the point I want to stress here is that
CARICOM, as a group, unanimously
endorsed the action in the next step.
Also, several of the CARICOM
states that do not have military forces
are prepared, we believe, to contribute
police. Police will be an extremely
important part of the international
effort in Haiti after the departure of
the dictators and the restoration of
democracy.
Deputy Secretary Deutch. My
purpose here in appearing with
Secretary Talbott-our trip yesterday-
was to make sure that everybody
knew, both within our government and
especially in Haiti, that the Defense
Department and the State Department
are together on the policy that we are
following. That is a very important
point, and it is true in all particulars.
The second is the question of the
message. Strobe has said it very
clearly. The way I say it is that the
Multinational Force is going to Haiti.
The issue is the circumstances under
which that force enters Haiti. It could
be under a permissive circumstance at
the request of the legitimate
government with the authority of the
U.N. Resolution, or it can be under
contested circumstances if the de facto
government, the illegal government, in
Haiti does not come to its senses and
realize that the world is determined to
see a change in that government back
to the democratically elected
Government of Haiti.
Our interest in this purpose is very
simple. The reason this message is so
important is that we would like that
intervention to take place with the
minimum number of casualties possible,
both for the Multinational Force and for
the people of Haiti. It is impossible to
assure that there will be no casualties, of
course, in any venture of this kind. We
want to stress that the intervention-the
Multinational Force intervention-will
have overwhelming force associated with
it so as to try to minimize casualties,
should it be needed. But the best of all
circumstances will be if the de factos
leave and the legitimate Government of
Haiti is able to come in with the
Multinational Force and have this
transition to the legitimate government as
rapidly as possible.
The last point that I would like to make
to you is that our planning is in place. As
Strobe has described, we will integrate in
our training, beginning immediately at
Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico, the
contingents which are coming from the
CARICOM nations and other contingents
as they arrive. That training will include
planning logistical support, command,
control, and communications-all the
things which are required to have an
effective integrated force. But planning
also, importantly, includes a procedure
for turning over the responsibilities of the
Multinational Force to the subsequent
phase of a United Nations Mission in
Haiti, the so-called UNMIH. So we
believe that we are ready, when the
circumstances warrant, to return the
legitimate government to Haiti, and we
will do so as promptly and as effectively
as we can-once again, with a minimum
number of casualties and hopefully in the
absence of the de facto government
in that country.
Joint U.S.-CARICOM
Statement, Kingston,
Jamaica, August 30,
19942
The members of CARICOM, an
association of twelve independent
English-speaking countries and one U.K.
dependency, are Antigua and Barbuda,
The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
November/December 1994
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The Restoration of Democracy in Haiti
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