[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[May 3, 1994]
[Pages 819-820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters Following a Meeting With President 
Jimmy Carter in Atlanta
May 3, 1994

Haiti

    Q. President Clinton, is military intervention on the table?
    President Clinton. I agree with what President Carter said. That's 
basically what I said this morning, and I believe that. After all, we 
had an agreement, the Governors Island Agreement, which was broken. And 
I think the military leaders are going to have to understand that we 
have been very patient. After they reneged on the Governors Island 
Agreement, we went back and spent a few more months trying to come up 
with some alternative formula. President Aristide did not dispute the 
fact that he had to broaden his political base in order to effectively 
govern. He was willing to do that. And we have worked on this for months 
now.
    For the last several weeks we keep getting reports not only of 
Aristide backers but of civilians being not only murdered, but 
mutilated. And I think it's time for a new initiative. We're now, as you 
know, doing two things: We're going for stronger sanctions in the U.N. 
and stiffening the enforcement of the sanctions we have, consistent with 
what President Aristide has wanted all along. We're going to consult 
with all of our friends and allies in the region, and we're going to do 
our best to bring a conclusion to this before more people die innocently 
and continue to suffer. But we cannot remove the military option. We 
have to keep that as an option.
    Q. It sounds like your patience is running out.
    President Clinton. I think it has run out; maybe we've let it run on 
a bit too long. But we're--the United States is very sensitive to the 
fact that without our direct intervention, today, all governments in 
Latin America, Central America, and the Caribbean have elected leaders 
except two--Haiti has ousted theirs, and

[[Page 820]]

Cuba. And we have done that in a spirit of partnership at its best in 
Latin America. When we have intervened in the past it hasn't worked out 
very well.
    The work that President Carter has done in Central America on 
elections--he's about to go back to Panama--is an example of America at 
its best being a genuine good neighbor to those countries. And that's 
the best approach. But this is an unusual and in some ways unprecedented 
circumstance. We're going to keep trying to find other ways to do it, 
but we cannot remove the military option.

South Africa

    Q. Mr. President, how much aid do you have in mind for the new 
government in South Africa?
    President Clinton. Well, I'm going to talk about that a little 
tonight. We're going to roughly double what we had previously scheduled.
    Q. Which was?
    President Clinton. And I think it will be about $600 million over 3 
years, something like that. I will have the figure tonight. I'm trying 
to--because I asked today, ironically that you asked this, for a little 
more information about some of the programs, and I'm going now to 
prepare for the program tonight. So I'll have it nailed down exactly 
about what we're going to do. But we're going to have a big increase in 
our aid, and I hope we'll be able to sustain it for some time, because 
if the South African miracle can be translated from an election into the 
lives of the people there, then the promise that that would have for 
lifting all of southern Africa and setting an example that others might 
follow is quite extraordinary.
    I think the whole world has been moved by the size of the turnout, 
by the profound passion of the people, and by the rather miraculous 
partnership between Mr. Mandela and Mr. de Klerk, and the fact that 
Chief Buthelezi and the Inkatha Party came back in the 11th hour, 
participated, and apparently have done as about projected and will be a 
part of the government. So I'm hoping that this is all going to work out 
fine.

Supreme Court Appointment

    Q. Mr. President, would you appoint someone on the Supreme Court 
without interviewing them yourself?
    President Jimmy Carter. I would.
    President Clinton. Did you hear what he said? He said, ``I would.'' 
[Laughter]

Note: The exchange began at 5:23 p.m. at the Carter Center. President 
Jimmy Carter made welcoming remarks and answered reporters' questions 
prior to the President's remarks. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of this exchange.