    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [February 7, 1996]
    [Pages 184-185]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With President Rene Preval of Haiti
    February 7, 1996

        President Preval. Good evening, Mr. President.
        President Clinton. Hello?
        President Preval. Good evening, Mr. President.
        President Clinton. Good evening. I wanted to call you and offer you
    my congratulations on your inauguration. As you know better than I, this
    is the first democratically elected transfer of power in Haiti in the
    history of your nation, and it's a real advance for democracy in our
    hemisphere and a great opportunity for your country, and I'm proud that
    the United States has been supporting you.
        Interpreter. You can go on, Mr. President. He understands English.
        President Clinton. Well, I just wanted to say those things and also
    to assure you that we are aware that you still have a lot to do, a big
    agenda ahead of you, but so much has been accomplished. You've had these
    peaceful elections. You have restored democratic institutions, including
    the Presidency and the Parliament. You have dismantled the repressive
    FAd'H. You have shown some economic growth last year.

    [[Page 185]]

    You have 5,000 people in the national police force, and there has been a
    dramatic decline in deaths due to political violence.
        So for all those things, even as we look to the challenges ahead, I
    know you are proud, and you should be proud. And I'm very glad that
    Ambassador Albright and Deputy Secretary Talbott and others from the
    United States delegation were able to be there. General Sheehan was at
    your inauguration, and he's already back here visiting with me, and he
    brought me a new baseball made in Haiti with ``Operation Uphold
    Democracy'' on it, so it's my souvenir from your inauguration, Mr.
    President. And it's a great day for you and a great day for all of us
    who believe in freedom and who support you.
        President Preval. Mr. President, on behalf of the Haitian people, I
    thank you very much for this call. I know that you are so much busy that
    I appreciate very much this gesture.

    [At this point, President Preval spoke in French, and his remarks were
    translated by an interpreter as follows.]

        I'm going to be more comfortable if I continue in French, Mr.
    President.
        President Clinton. Please do.
        President Preval. As you yourself said, you played a very great role
    amid the U.N. effort to help restore democracy in Haiti, and we thank
    you for that. We have been independent for 193 years, and this is the
    very first time that one President transfers power to another
    democratically elected President.
        But as you very well know, the challenges before me are enormous,
    because democracy cannot take place without economic development. And on
    the economic front, we are going to make every effort that we possibly
    can to give satisfaction to the Haitian people. And in particular, we
    would like to invite American investors to come to Haiti to invest. Our
    police is yet weak, and we certainly want to strengthen it to
    consolidate it still further in order to safeguard security in Haiti.
        Mr. President, I know how terribly busy you are, and as disappointed
    as the Haitian people were that you weren't able to be here, when they
    hear that you have called, they will, I am sure, be truly delighted.
        Merci beaucoup.
        President Clinton. Merci, Mr. President. You tell them that I'm
    still supporting them and their freedom, and the United States is still
    supporting them, and we will do what we can to encourage investment, to
    get the economic development going and, as you know, we want to continue
    to provide some support through civil engineering and infrastructure
    projects and some other things that we can do consistent with the
    ongoing partnership that we want to have with our two countries. So we
    will be there with you, and we're excited for this day and ready for the
    work ahead.
        President Preval. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
        President Clinton. Have a wonderful evening. It's a great day for
    you.
        President Preval. And I hope that we'll have the pleasure to meet
    very soon.
        President Clinton. Yes, I do, too. I'm looking forward to that.
        President Preval. Thank you very much.
        President Clinton. Thank you, and goodbye. Thank you.
        President Preval. Thank you to your family.
        President Clinton. Thank you.

    Note: The conversation began at 4:16 p.m. The President spoke from the
    Oval Office at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. John
    J. Sheehan, USMC, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Command. He also referred
    to the Forces Armees d'Haiti (FAd'H), the Armed Forces of Haiti.