[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 136 (Monday, September 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                BOB PASTOR'S ROLE IN HAITI NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment today to pay 
tribute to one of the unsung heros who assisted President Carter, 
General Powell, and me throughout our long weekend in Port-au-Prince, 
Haiti. That person is Dr. Robert Pastor of Emory University. Bob Pastor 
accompanied President Carter, General Powell, and me to Port-au-Prince 
at President Carter's urging. General Powell and I were thankful that 
Bob agreed to join us.
  Bob Pastor was the one person, besides the three of us, who attended 
all meetings and took complete notes of the proceedings. He was 
unfailingly energetic, creative, and diplomatic. Bob Pastor deserves a 
large measure of credit for the agreement we reached.
  Mr. President, Bob Pastor's contribution did not end upon the signing 
of the agreement Sunday evening. At President Carter's urging, seconded 
by General Powell and myself, Bob agreed to stay in Port-au-Prince to 
convey the spirit and the background of our agreement to Ambassador 
Swing and General Bates and later to General Shelton and General Meade. 
For obvious reasons, United States military forces initially deployed 
to and around Haiti were operating on a set of assumptions that did not 
foresee agreement between the United States and the Haitian military 
and de facto civilian authorities.
  So while President Carter, General Powell, and I returned to 
Washington to brief President Clinton in person, Bob Pastor agreed with 
President Carter's request that he remain in Port-au-Prince to brief 
U.S. authorities there. Bob in effect served as the bridge between our 
delegation, de facto Haitian authorities, our Embassy, and our military 
forces during the critical, initial phase of our military deployment in 
Port-au-Prince. I believe Bob played an important role in ensuring that 
our deployment proceeded smoothly, without untoward incident--and most 
importantly, without loss of life or even serious injury.
  Mr. President, I have worked with Bob Pastor for almost a decade on 
numerous issues relating to Central and Latin American. He has 
distinguished academic credentials as well as a distinguished academic 
credentials as well as a distinguished record of public service. He was 
Director of the Linowitz Commission on United States-Latin American 
Relations. He was Director of the Office of Latin American and 
Caribbean Affairs on the National Security Council during the Carter 
Administration. Currently, he is professor or political science at 
Emory, and also director of the Latin American and Caribbean Program at 
Emory's Carter Center.
  Mr. President, Bob Pastor played a very important role in our success 
in Haiti. I am pleased to commend him from the floor of the U.S. Senate 
for his service to our delegation and to our country.

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