[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 199 (Thursday, December 14, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18659-S18660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HAITI--A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR FOREIGN POLICY FAILURE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, U.S. policy regarding Haiti is another 
example of throwing good money after bad. In order to keep a sinking 
foreign policy ship afloat, the Clinton administration has handed over, 
in less than a year and a half, more than $2 billion of the American 
taxpayers' money in propping up the regime of President Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide.
  This enormous sum of money has gone to a tiny, corrupt country 
representing less than 1 percent of this hemisphere's population.
  Within the past month, I have received new requests from the 
administration to send additional millions of dollars to Haiti.
  President Clinton's enormous spending spree in Haiti has not produced 
the stability, security, and democracy promised by the Clinton 
administration. I possess no crystal ball but it was apparent to me 
then, and still is, that politically motivated assassinations and 
increased mob violence would result if Aristide were reinstated as 
President to be propped up by American soldiers. But, just as was the 
case early in the 20th century when the United States Marines occupied 
Haiti for 19 years and did not bring democracy to Haiti, the present 
military occupation has not transformed Aristide into a leader who 
believes in and practices democratic ideals.
  Mr. President, whatever Aristide and his cronies are committed to, it 
certainly isn't democracy. Their primary interest is U.S. dollars.
  Aristide has flatly refused to implement free market reforms, and has 
warned that the first person who ``dares sell the state's possessions 
on behalf of privatization'' will be ``arrested immediately.'' In fact, 
Aristide's hostility toward free market economic reform resulted in a 
political crisis which led to the resignation of his Prime Minister in 
October and the suspension of all World Bank programs.
  In June's legislative elections, fraud was rampant, and several 
opposition candidates were threatened and intimidated. Poll workers 
were largely untrained, voting secrecy was rare, ballots were burned or 
dumped, and tally sheets were widely doctored.
  Even with 6,000 international troops and a new U.S.-trained police 
force in place, dozens of politically motivated murders have occurred 
since the Clinton administration restored Aristide to power last 
October. In March, a woman was gunned down in retaliation for 
criticizing President Aristide.
  Another Port-au-Prince murder is remindful of the Old Testament 
account of King Abel who coveted the property of his subject, Naboth. 
When Naboth refused to sell, King Abel had him poisoned and took the 
property.
  History is repeating itself in Haiti. Michel Gonzalez and his 
American wife were Aristide's neighbors in the Port-au-Prince suburbs. 
When Aristide wanted to add on to his villa, several neighbors accepted 
his offer to buy their property. However, despite several offers from 
Aristide, Mr. Gonzalez declined to sell his home. So, on May 22, as Mr. 
Gonzalez entered his driveway with his teenage daughter, he was gunned 
down. Sources in Haiti assert that soon after the assassination, the 
wall dividing the properties was knocked down. Aristide got his way.
  On November 11, President Aristide incited mobs to violence at a 
funeral of a political crony and relative. His bloodthirsty syncophants 
responded immediately, and across Haiti, buildings were burned, houses 
were ransacked, and dozens were murdered. Yet violence has not abated. 
Recently, the bodies of seven men and women were found in a dump near 
Port-au-Prince, gagged and shot in the head.
  Mr. President, not one person has been prosecuted and sentenced for 
any of at least 22 politically motivated murders committed between 
January and October of this year. In fact, I am unaware of any serious 
investigation into these assassinations, much less into the more recent 
murders last month.
  When asked by a Creole newspaper about killings sparked by his 
speech, 

[[Page S18660]]
Aristide said that ``If Jesus was so angry when he entered the temple 
that he took up a whip, turned over the tables and talked harshly to 
the hypocrites, all the more reason for us to do so who are Jesus' 
servants.'' For this man to compare himself to Jesus is disgustingly 
blasphemous.
  Aristide opposes every principle for which our country stands. For 
the United States to spend over $2 billion in taxpayer dollars to prop 
up this man is unconscionable.
  Mr. President, Aristide threatened to send a flood of refugees to the 
United States if additional millions of the American citizens' dollars 
are denied him. And the Clinton administration has capitulated to this 
blackmail. But this Senator, for one, cannot stomach using U.S. tax 
money to sponsor a tyrant who has demonstrated no concern for justice 
or democracy.
  If the December 17 elections proceed, Aristide's hand-picked 
successor, Rene Preval, will almost certainly win, inasmuch as 10 of 
the 12 largest political parties are boycotting the election. Aristide 
declares that he and Preval are twins--an allusion to their ideological 
similarity. It is, to be sure, an indication of what a Preval president 
will be.
  The deteriorating situation in Haiti is clear: Unless Aristide and 
his successor fulfill their promises to the Haitian people, to the 
United States Government, and to the international community, neither 
United States troops nor additional billions of United States 
taxpayers' dollars can ever bring democracy to Haiti.

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