[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 6 (Monday, February 12, 1996)]
[Pages 213-214]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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.
    Translator. 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 
FADH. You have shown some economic growth last year. 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 De- 

[[Page 214]]

mocracy'' 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.]

    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 good-bye. 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.