    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [October 15, 1993]
    [Pages 1755-1758]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference
    October 15, 1993

    Haiti

        The President. Ladies and gentlemen, during the past few days, we
    have witnessed a brutal attempt by Haiti's military and police
    authorities to thwart the expressed desire of the Haitian people for
    democracy. On Monday, unruly elements, unrestrained by the Haitian
    military, violently prevented American and United Nations personnel from
    carrying out the steps toward that goal. Yesterday, gunmen assassinated
    prodemocracy Justice Minister Malary.
        There are important American interests at stake in Haiti and in what
    is going on there. First, there are about 1,000 American citizens living
    in Haiti or working there. Second, there are Americans there who are
    helping to operate our Embassy. Third, we have an interest in promoting
    democracy in this hemisphere, especially in a place where such a large
    number of Haitians have clearly expressed their preference for
    President. And finally, we have a clear interest in working toward a
    government in Haiti that enables its citizens to live there in security
    so they do not have to flee in large numbers and at great risk to
    themselves to our shores and to other nations.
        Two American administrations and the entire international community
    have consistently condemned the 1991 military coup that ousted President
    Aristide. In response to United States, Latin American, and United
    Nations sanctions and pressure, Haiti's military rulers agreed with
    civilian leaders on a plan to restore democracy. That plan was reached
    under the auspices of the Organization of the American States and the
    United Nations. It was concluded on July the 3d on Governors Island here
    in the United States.
        Yesterday the United Nations Security Council, upon the
    recommendations of its special negotiator for Haiti, Dante Caputo, voted
    to reimpose stiff sanctions against Haiti, including an embargo on oil
    imports, until order is restored and the Governors Island process is
    clearly resumed.
        Those sanctions will go into effect on Monday night unless Haiti's
    security forces put democracy back on track between now and then. I will
    also be imposing additional unilateral sanctions, such as revoking visas
    and freezing the assets of those who are perpetrating the violence and
    their supporters.
        The United States strongly supports the Governors Island process,
    the new civilian government of Prime Minister Malval, and the return to
    Haiti of President Aristide.
        I have today ordered six destroyers to patrol the waters off Haiti
    so that they are in a position to enforce the sanctions fully when they
    come into effect Monday night. I have also offered and ordered an
    infantry company to be on standby at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba just
    a short distance from Haiti. The purpose of these actions is this: to
    ensure the safety of the Americans in Haiti and to press for the
    restoration of democracy there through the strongest possible
    enforcement of the sanctions.
        The military authorities in Haiti simply must

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    understand that they cannot indefinitely defy the desires of their own
    people as well as the will of the world community. That path holds only
    suffering for their nation and international isolation for themselves. I
    call upon them again to restore order and security to their country, to
    protect their own citizens and ours, and to comply with the Governors
    Island Agreement.
        Q. Mr. President, you warned yesterday about maintaining the safety
    of the provisional government in Haiti, and yet there was this
    assassination yesterday of the Justice Minister. You talk about the
    personal safety of Americans in Haiti, is there anything the United
    States can do to ensure the safety of President Aristide's Cabinet? Are
    there any steps that you can take to help this fledgling democracy?
        The President. Well we've had discussions with Prime Minister
    Malval. The Vice President talked to him yesterday, as well as to
    President Aristide. We have, as you probably know, a significant number
    of security forces there that we've been working to train, and there may
    be some things that we can do. But let me say this, we've had
    discussions with him. We're in constant communications with him, and we
    are working with him. He has been very forthright in his asking us to
    reinforce the sanctions strongly and to do whatever we could to try to
    remind people that there is no other way out for Haiti but democracy.
    But what we do with regard to his safety, I think, in some ways is going
    to have to be decided as we go along and with his heavy involvement and
    support.
        Q. Mr. President, are the naval ships going to stop merchant ships
    going in and out of Haiti and maybe board them to make sure that their
    embargo is being complied with?
        The President. That's what they're going to do. They're going to
    have a very wide berth to enforce the embargo, or the sanctions, very
    strongly. And we intend to use the six ships. One of them will be off
    the coast of Haiti within about an hour. They will be around Port-au-
    Prince by this evening, and they should all be in place by tomorrow.
        Q. Mr. President, what if this embargo induces a new wave of
    immigrants who say they're political refugees? And what if these
    refugees come upon the U.S. destroyers, how will you handle that?
        The President. Our policy has not changed on that. We still believe
    that we should process the Haitians who are asking for asylum in Haiti
    and that that is the safest thing for them. So we will continue to
    pursue the policy we have pursued for the last several months. But the
    purpose of these destroyers is different. These destroyers are going
    there to enforce the sanctions and to do it very strongly.
        Q. But if they come upon refugees, how will they handle them,
    though? Will they just let them go by? Will they turn them back?
        The President. We have no reason to believe that what we have been
    doing won't work there. And I want to emphasize that our policy has not
    changed, and we will continue to adhere to our policy with regard to
    refugees as we work with Haiti and the Prime Minister and the President
    are restored, the democratic government. But the purpose of the
    destroyers is to strongly enforce the sanctions.
        Q. Mr. President, are you prepared to evacuate American citizens
    from Haiti if the security situation there does not improve?
        The President. As I said to you, we are moving an enhanced infantry
    company into Guantanamo so that we can be in a position to deal with
    whatever contingencies arise. I have taken the steps that I think are
    appropriate at this time. And at this time I have not made a decision to
    evacuate our personnel. But there are 1,000 Americans there. There are
    also 9,000 people who have a dual nationality. The 1,000 Americans, most
    of them are working. There are a handful of tourists there, not many.
    And there are 140 Embassy personnel there.
        Q. Mr. President, since you're dealing with people who agreed to the
    Governors Island accords in the face of sanctions and then reneged on
    their promise, what in your view will be sufficient indication of
    compliance and future compliance so that the embargo and other sanctions
    will be able to be lifted?
        The President. Well, I can tell you one thing that would clearly
    show a fundamental change, and that is if all the United Nations forces
    that were supposed to be there to try to help retrain the police and to
    retrain the army were permitted to do so in a clearly safe atmosphere
    where they could also be protected. That would be some evidence that we
    had fundamental change. Keep in mind, this is a different mission than
    Somalia, different from Bosnia, different from any of the existing U.N.
    missions.
        The purpose of these people--the reason we could not even think
    about landing the United States forces that were there a couple of days

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    ago is that primarily they were Seabees going there for the purpose of,
    in effect, helping the Haitian army to become like the Army Corps of
    Engineers in this country. They were helping them transform their whole
    mission, not to be fighters anymore but to try to rebuild one of the
    most environmentally plundered and devastated lands in the entire world.

        So if we were seriously proceeding, evidence of that would be all
    these French-speaking countries being able to bring their folks back in
    and retrain the police force to be a professional and ordinary, not a
    renegade, police force and having the French-speaking Canadians and the
    United States in there showing the army how to build a country instead
    of tear up the fabric of the society.

        Q. President Aristide is asking that the administration increase the
    Marine contingent at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince in order to
    protect the people in his government. Is that under consideration at
    this point? And if, let's say, members of his government should flee to
    the American Embassy, would the Embassy provide protection for them?

        The President. The answer to your first question is that that is
    certainly something that I have not ruled out. I have not ruled out
    anything that I have spoken, just because I haven't spoken about it
    today. We had a good, long meeting this morning with Admiral Jeremiah
    and General Shalikashvili and others, Secretary of State, Secretary of
    Defense. And I am very concerned about the security and safety of the
    Americans there and the very brave Prime Minister and his government.

        Again, I would say to you, whatever specific things we do with
    regard to the Prime Minister and his government, I would rather come out
    of statements they make, because I don't want anything I say to upset
    the balance of forces in Haiti now. But I wouldn't rule out a change in
    the deployment around the Embassy.

        Our first obligation, after all, is to protect the Americans there.
    But I think what I have done and the announcement I have made today,
    based on the facts that we have as of when I came out to speak to you,
    is sufficient as of this moment.

        Q. I'm wondering, sir, if you have thought about and considered the
    possibility that you might need to have some kind of police force on the
    ground there in Haiti, much as has been necessary in Somalia in light of
    the fact that the place has been so violence-prone for so long?

        The President. One of the discussions that we had when the gang
    showed up on the dock was the question of whether the protection for our
    Seabees, who were after all, as I say, not delivering food, not--their
    whole goal was to retrain army personnel to rebuild the country. And the
    agreement under which they were going there was that they would have
    sidearms and access to rifles--was to whether that was adequate or not.
    That question will obviously have to be revisited depending upon the
    developments in the next few days. I wouldn't rule that out, Brit [Brit
    Hume, ABC News], but I think we ought to--let's see what happens over
    the next few days.

        Q. Mr. President, how does this differ from the word ``blockade,''
    which you the other day mentioned as a term of art associated with a
    declaration of war?

        The President. Well, in a literal sense, a blockade would physically
    stop all traffic going in and out of the country, in this case by water.
    The United Nations resolution and the sanctions attempt to stop
    virtually all commercial traffic that could be of some commercial
    benefit. It does not render illegal every single entering into or exit
    from Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien, or the country in general. So there is
    a legal difference in that sense.

        But if you use the word in the common-sense parlance, we would block
    any prohibited materials and goods and anything subject to the sanctions
    from going into the country. That is our goal.

        Q. Mr. President, today was the day that Colonel Francois and
    General Cedras were supposed to resign their posts--went past. Are there
    any conversations between the American Embassy people and General Cedras
    and Colonel Francois going on? Has there been any attempt to have
    communications from both sides?

        The President. Well, as you know, Mr. Pezzullo went back yesterday.
    And our Ambassador, Mr. Swing, is down there now. And they are working
    hard to make sure that everyone in the country knows that the United
    States

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    is determined to see the democratic process restored. I think they've
    made their position clear.

    Note: The President's 30th news conference began at 2:49 p.m. in the
    East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Lawrence
    Pezzullo, U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti.