The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PRESIDENT ARISTIDE'S PROGRESS IN HAITI” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S1874-S1877 on Feb. 1, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PRESIDENT ARISTIDE'S PROGRESS IN HAITI
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, on October 15, 1994, I was privileged to join Secretary of State Warren Christopher and other United States officials and congressional leaders in accompanying President Aristide on his return to Haiti after more than 3 years in forced exile. Before departing for Port-au-Prince, President Aristide pledged that upon his return, his government would work for peace and reconciliation among all sectors of Haitian society.
I believe that President Clinton has done a remarkable job in fashioning a policy that has led to the restoration of the duly elected President of Haiti. Special commendation must go to the men and women in the United States Armed Forces who have been deployed in Haiti to ensure a stable and peaceful climate within which the newly restored civilian government may begin the difficult task of rebuilding Haiti. Without the presence of these committed men and women, the dreams and aspirations of the Haitian people to live in a democracy would stand no hope of fulfillment.
More than 100 days have now passed since that historic day last October. President Aristide has kept his commitment to work for peace and reconciliation among all Haitians. I believe that he has made significant progress in the areas of governance, security, economic reconstruction, and meeting the basic needs of the Haitian people. Obviously much remains to be done.
The Embassy of Haiti has prepared a detailed report on the measures taken by the Haitian Government during the first 100 days of the restoration of democracy. I ask unanimous consent that report be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
There being no objection, the report was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Haiti Since the Restoration of Democracy: One Hundred Days of Progress
``The Government and people of Haiti take pride in the achievements of the last one
[[Page S1875]] hundred days. However, our struggle is far from over and so we continue to strive within every geographic area, and within every ministry, to make secure the foundations of a lasting, stable democracy.
``We are grateful for the U.S.-led multinational effort in support of Haitian democracy, and not only welcome the opportunities for cooperation and partnership with the world's democracies that the past four months have made possible, but are committed to expand and build upon them.''--President Jean Bertrand Aristide
introduction
President Jean Bertrand Aristide's return to Haiti on October 15, 1994 was the culmination of an historic international effort to end a brutal military dictatorship that had:
(i) ousted Haiti's first democratically elected President three years earlier;
(ii) executed summarily 5,000 civilians;
(iii) dislocated 350,000 Haitians, forcing them into hiding within their own country;
(iv) caused some 48,000 Haitians to take to the high seas in an attempt to escape the imprisonment, torture, rapes, and murder that Haiti's coup regime was meting out to members of Haiti's pro-democracy community;
(v) created a massive Haitian refugee crisis for the United States and other countries of the region;
(vi) accelerated the economic and environmental degradation of Haiti, reversing the progress achieved during Haiti's first democratic administration in 1991;
(vii) increased drug-related criminal activity within the United States by permitting Haiti to be used as a drug transshipment point for illegal narcotics destined to the United States from South America; and
(viii) threatened to undermine, by way of example, the viability of other fledgling democracies throughout the hemisphere;
In the first 100 days since President Aristide has been reinstated as his country's democratically elected President, the Government and people of Haiti have moved with single-minded determination to assure Haiti a firm foothold in the world community of democratic, free-market nations.
Perhaps most impressive, as noted by U.S. officials, leading members of Haiti's business community, and the international press, has been President Aristide's ability to bridge Haiti's profound social tensions by reaching out to all Haitians, in a spirit of reconciliation and non-violence, to create a new Haiti.
President Aristide has demonstrated himself to be a skilled, committed democrat, working with respect for constitutional limits and mandates of Haiti's Presidency and other governmental institutions, and has built a coalition government that promotes and encourages open dialogue with all sectors of Haitian society.
Listed below are some of the achievements of the 100-day old ``second'' Aristide administration. To place the efforts and successes of Haiti's constitutional government in proper context, however, it is important to note that upon their return, President Aristide and other members of Haiti's democratically elected government were not only faced with a country whose social and economic development had been thoroughly undermined by the coup regime, but with government ministries and a National Palace that had been pillaged and gutted of equipment, furniture, wiring and supplies (down to paper and pencils) by the departing de facto ``government'', in order to thrust the returning government into a totally inhospitable, unmanageable administrative environment.
impact of the restoration of democracy
Refugees
Haitian refugees have stopped fleeing Haiti due to the constitutional government's respect for human rights;
As a result, ``the Haitian refugee crisis'' no longer preoccupies the American public, the American media, and U.S. policy-makers;
Some 16,000 Haitian refugees being held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba, who:
(i) had refused to return to Haiti while it was under military dictatorship, and
(ii) were seeking refugee status within the United States or other regional countries,
have returned to Haiti voluntarily;
As was the case after Haiti's first democratic elections in 1990, Haitian teachers, health/legal/other professionals who had long been legal residents in Canada, the United States, France and elsewhere, have begun returning to Haiti to make their contributions to the rebuilding of their country;
Democratic reform and governance
The UN/OAS Human Rights Observer Mission, expelled by the military dictatorship in 1994, has returned to Haiti;
The Government of Haiti is working with the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and bilateral donors to develop mechanisms and systems to facilitate broad-based awareness of the importance
of adhering to internationally accepted human rights standards in the building of a new Haiti;
Repeated, impassioned, and sustained calls for reconciliation by President Aristide have been accepted by his followers. Haitians, upon identifying those who brutalized them during military dictatorship, turn these individuals over to members of the Multinational Force--and in some cases, even to the foreign press--rather than taking
``justice'' into their own hands;
The strength and lasting power of his message was most recently demonstrated on January 12, when Haitian civilians in Gonaives chased, apprehended, and then turned over to the multinational force a former Haitian military officer attempting to escape after an attack on U.S. servicemen that left one U.S. soldier dead and another wounded;
The Haitian Government's emphasis on consultation, inclusion and reconciliation has been demonstrated repeatedly, as in:
(a) President Aristide's exhaustive and cordial consultations with at least 16 political parties--almost immediately upon his return--to establish dialogue on issues of concern and to stress the importance to the nation of parliamentary elections taking place at the earliest possible opportunity, and
(b) the extensive discussions he entered into across Haiti's leadership spectrum prior to selecting Smarck Michel, a prominent 51-year old Haitian businessman, as Prime Minister;
Prime Minister Smarck Michel's unanimous confirmation by Haiti's multiparty parliament, and the subsequent installation of Mr. Michel's ministerial cabinet on November 6, 1994 formalized the establishment of the official, legal framework within which democratic, constitutional governance in Haiti can go forward. (See Attachment A for a complete list of all Government Ministers);
Immediately upon his return, President Aristide began stressing to the Haitian people and Parliament the importance of the upcoming parliamentary elections. In order to expedite this, a Provisional Electoral Council (representing the three branches of government) has been established, an electoral law has been submitted to Parliament, and a mid-April election date targeted.
Within a month of his return, President Aristide invited 400 Haitian business leaders to the National Palace, among them individuals who had opposed his return and supported the coup. He included several of these in his official delegation to the Summit of the Americas and named them to the Presidential Commission on Business Modernization and Economic Growth.
At the end of 1994, Time assessed President Aristide's reconciliation efforts thus: ``(Aristide) is a man whom experience has imbued with wisdom, a new found respect for dialogue and a deft skill for the politics of pragmatism.''
Economic revitalization
In keeping with his commitment to modernize the Haitian business sector, promote economic development, and reinforce the government's interest in expanding economic and business links with the rest of the region, in general, and the United States, in particular, President Aristide, in December 1994, established a high-level Commission on Economic Growth and Modernization, headed by prominent Haitian businessman and President of the Haitian Industrial Association, Jean Edouard Baker.
The Commission, comprised of 25 Haitians representing a broad cross-section of Haiti's business leadership as well as those Cabinet ministers responsible for economic reconstruction, was represented by a 6-person delegation to Washington in mid-January for talks with the Administration and the Congress. These talks focussed on the policies and programs implemented by the Government of Haiti to stabilize the economy and facilitate the workings of a free-market system.
This delegation also stressed to U.S. policy-makers that there is now a historic opportunity for Haiti to be permanently transformed--provided the international community maintains its security and human rights observer presence, and keeps its commitment to provide technical and financial support;
In response to the free-market policies of the government, some 35 plants in the assembly export sector which ceased production during the political and economic crisis of the past three years have reopened;
The macro-economic plan presented by the Aristide government to the international community prior to the 1991 coup won multilateral economic pledges in excess of $500 million. However, the three year military dictatorship caused multilateral donors to withhold this much-needed injection of capital from the Haitian economy. The re-submission of its macroeconomic plan by the ``second'' Aristide administration has again won the support of multilateral community, and Haiti expects pledges in excess of $1 billion over the next 5 years;
The resumption of multilateral economic support to Haiti was contingent upon the country's arrears, (resulting from the coup regime's refusal to make payments on Haiti's international debt), being cleared. Thanks to the joint efforts of the international community and the Government of Haiti, these arrears were cleared in December 1994, thereby removing one of the impediments to the timely flow of the support pledged by the international community;
There are well-established channels of communication and a strong spirit of cooperation between the Government of Haiti and the Haitian business community, born of the realization on both sides that (i) business, (ii) labor, and (iii) democratic, stable government are all crucial, indispensable, and interdependent components of any modern state;
[[Page S1876]] President Aristide has announced a package of special incentives to attract foreign investment to Haiti. These include a reduction in telephone, electricity and customs fees; a dramatic reduction in tariffs on most imported items, except sensitive agricultural commodities; and tax incentives for businesses that return to Haiti by July 1, 1995;
At the end of January, Haiti will formally announce to the international financial community its plan for economic development and its projected assistance needs. The plan embraces solid fiscal discipline, open investment and trade policies including a reduction in tariffs, elimination of non-tariff barriers, the modernization of commercial and investment codes, and the streamlining of import/export procedures;
The Aristide government is also implementing economic policies geared at sustaining economic growth, reducing the public sector deficit, streamlining and professionalizing the civil service, and eliminating currency exchange and interest rate controls;
In order to maximize competition and facilitate the efficient functioning of the Haitian economy, the Government of Haiti has retained the services of the International Financial Corporation to review the condition of state-owned enterprises, and is in the final stages of establishing a tripartite commission on labor-management
relations. This commission will facilitate greater communication and cooperation between labor, management and government to the overall benefit of the Haitian economy and the Haitian people;
In December 1994, the Governments of the United States and Haiti signed an agreement aimed at revitalizing the Haitian economy via improvements in telecommunications, energy and transportation;
The Haitian Ministry of Finance and the U.S. Department of Commerce agree to establish a joint Business Development Council;
Haiti's ports have re-opened.
Military, police, and judicial reform
A law was submitted by the Aristide administration to Haiti's parliament to create a civilian-controlled police force separate from the military, as mandated by Haiti's constitution. Haiti's police and military had long been indistinguishable from each other and the source of much repression in Haiti. The law was debated and ratified by the Parliament, and the creation of the new police force under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice is now underway;
One thousand former refuges at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo have been recruited as members of the interim police force, as have 3,000 former members of the Haitian military who were screened for human rights abuses;
The Haitian army, originally estimated at 7,000, has been demobilized and will be reconstituted at a level of 1,500, with the salaries of the demobilized soldiers going to the Ministries of Health, Public Works and Agriculture. In addition, these soldiers are being encouraged by the government to apply for positions within these ministries, in order to begin new, constructive careers. A commission, headed by Minister of Defense Wilthan Lherisson, has been charged with establishing--in conjunction with U.S. advisers--a plan for the army's reorganization. (The downsizing of the Haitian army to 1,500 was an important component of the Haitian government's marcro-economic plan which won the support of multilateral donors in Paris last August).
The new Police Academy is scheduled to open within the next few weeks and trainees, recruited from Haiti's nine
(regional) departments, will be selected from a pool of 25,000 applicants. A commission under the authority of the Ministry of Justice has been created to develop the organizational structure and regulations for the new National Police Force.
Haiti's notorious ``section chiefs'', long identified by human rights observers and the people of Haiti as key instruments of rural repression in Haiti, were aggressively supported by the military dictatorship. They have now been outlawed and the constitutional government is, instead, establishing in the rural areas local, legitimate justices of the peace.
Demilitarization of Port-au-Prince
Haiti's Army Headquarters, traditionally situated next to the Presidential palace, is now the site of Haiti's Ministry of Women's Affairs.
The Port-au-Prince police station is now controlled by the interim police force, under the jurisdiction of the ministry of justice.
Accounting for human rights abuses during military dictatorship
An independent Truth Commission has been established
by Presidential decree in an attempt to acknowledge, investigate, and provide a full accounting of the brutality that characterized Haiti's 1991-1994 military dictatorship. This is part of an effort to put an end to Haiti's history of impunity and allow for the establishment of the rule of law in the pursuit of political, economic, and social stability;
The Government of Haiti has retained the services of Haitian lawyers to pursue claims arising from the most notorious cases of human rights abuses during the coup period.
Public works
The Government of Haiti, in conjunction with international donors, has created 5 thousand road repair jobs, thereby upgrading areas of Haiti's physical infrastructure that were seriously neglected during the three-year military dictatorship;
Haiti's main airport in Port-au-Prince is being renovated to accommodate the increased traffic that (i) has resulted from the restoration of democracy, and (ii) is expected from Haiti's pursuit of expanded economic and other links with the region in general and the United States in particular;
Social infrastructure
Education, neglected by the coup regime, is once again being stressed by the constitutional government as a crucial component of Haiti's political, economic, and social stability. With the restoration of democracy came the re-opening of schools, the establishment of a State Secretariat for Literacy, and the distribution of $3 million in school supplies;
The government, with the assistance of international agencies, initiated in November 1994 a massive vaccination campaign. To date some 520,000 children have been vaccinated and the government plans to have 3 million children similarly protected by summer 1995;
President Aristide has pledged to open at least one new school and one new clinic in each of Haiti's 500 districts by the end of his term in February 1996;
A Ministry for the Environment has been created to address the serious ecological challenges facing the people of Haiti.
remaining challenges
The return of constitutional government to Haiti on October 15, 1994 celebrated a commonality of purpose among the world's democracies. It also raised serious questions regarding the climate of impunity which aspiring despots in the region had begun to assume they could take for granted. For this the people of Haiti are most grateful. However, in the midst of its efforts to secure the achievements summarized in this paper, Haiti's newly reinstated constitutional government has had to face a number of challenges.
No sooner had constitutional government been restored to Haiti than Hurricane Gordon hit, causing over 1,000 deaths and extensive damage to infrastructure. Indeed, the United Nations Development Program reports that 1.5 million Haitians were hurt and/or lost property. Thanks to the presence of the Multinational Force in general and U.S. troops in particular, however, the Government and people had a ready source of logistical and material support which helped alleviate the impact of the crisis.
Less benign in its origins but just as deadly in its impact, however, was the placement--one month after the return of constitutional government--of an explosive device at a power generator upon which most of Port-au-Prince depends for
electricity. This development has sorely taxed the Haitian government as it attempts to stabilize the country, encourage domestic investment, and attract foreign investment. However, the determination of the government and the people of Haiti to build a stable and secure nation, acts such as this notwithstanding, remains unshakable.
Regarding the partnership between the government of Haiti and the international community, it is clear that the presence of the Multinational Force has been a dramatic demonstration of the commitment of the world community to democracy in Haiti, and this has enabled the Government of Haiti to move forward with many of the policies and programs outlined in this report. It is the hope of the Government of Haiti, however, that the international community will soon be able to make available the economic support so generously pledged prior to the return of constitutional government in October 1994, since it has long been stressed by both the donor community and the constitutional Government of Haiti that this support is an indispensable counterpart to the essential and fully appreciated multilateral military presence now in Haiti.
To the extent that the bottlenecks and administrative delays that have slowed the actual provision of economic support (as opposed to pledges) can be corrected, then Haiti's entry into the world community of stable democratic nations would be greatly expedited and the positive impact of the multilateral military presence would be permanently secured.
Haitians from all classes will attest to the unifying influence of President Aristide, who has encouraged patience and perseverance in the face of the significant difference between the economic support that was long ago promised, (as a complement to the multinational troop presence), and what has, to date, been forthcoming.
Nonetheless, the Government continues to pursue as top priorities:
The holding of free and fair parliamentary elections at the earliest possible date;
The strengthening of the institutions of democracy and the promotion of respect for the rule of law;
Expanding links between U.S. and Haitian businesses, building upon:
(i) Haiti's geographic proximity to the United States,
(ii) The long history of U.S./Haiti business relations,
(iii) The heightened degree of cooperation and collaboration between the peoples of both nations afforded by the U.S.-led effort to restore democracy,
(iv) The energy that has long characterized Haiti's private sector leadership and the dependability of Haiti's labor force, and
[[Page S1877]] In keeping with President Aristide's emphasis on the importance of national reconciliation to Haiti's future, the Government of Haiti remains committed to disarmament.
Jean Edouard Baker, President of the Industrial Association of Haiti, during a recent visit to Washington stressed to U.S. policy makers that there is now a historic opportunity for Haiti to be permanently transformed--``provided the international community maintains its security and human rights observer presence as originally negotiated, and keeps its commitment to provide financial and technical support during this crucial transition period.''
The Government of Haiti shares this assessment and will continue to work with its friends in the international community to ensure that this historic moment yields its full potential.
Attachment A
cabinet of Prime Minister Smarck Michel
Foreign Affairs & Culture: Mrs. Claudette Werleigh.
Defense: Gen. Wilthan Lherisson.
Interior: Mr. Rene Prosper.
Finances & Economic Affairs: Mrs. Marie-Michele Rey.
Justice: Jean Joseph Exume, Esq.
Commerce & Industry: Mr. Maurice LaFortune.
Planning & External Cooperation: Mr. Jean-Marie Cherestal.
Health & Population: Mr. Jean Moliere.
Agriculture, Natural Resources & Rural Development: Mr. Francois Severin.
Public Administration & Government Personnel: Mr. Anthony Barbier.
Public Works, Transportation, & Communications: Mr. Georges Anglade.
Information: Mr. Henri Claude Menard.
Culture: Mr. Jean-Claude Bajeux.
National Education: Mr. Emmanuel Buteau.
Social Affairs: Mr. Enold Joseph.
Women Affairs & Women's Rights: Mrs. Lise-Marie Dejean.
Expatriated Haitian Nationals: Mr. Fritz Casseus.
Environment: Mr. Anthony Verdier.
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