Economic Sanctions Haiti

Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and members of the military-supported regime that deposed him launched their first face-to-face negotiations here on Friday to try to solve Haiti's political crisis. Neither side appeared to have budged from its uncompromising position. But after their initial, one-hour meeting Friday evening, one negotiator described the talk as "positive." (The discussions are scheduled to resume early today and last until Sunday.

Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and members of the military-supported regime that deposed him launched their first face-to-face negotiations here on Friday to try to solve Haiti's political crisis. Neither side appeared to have budged from its uncompromising position. But after their initial, one-hour meeting Friday evening, one negotiator described the talk as "positive." (The discussions are scheduled to resume early today and last until Sunday.

The Reagan Administration said it would be premature to impose new economic sanctions on Haiti because the new government of President Leslie F. Manigat "has shown a determination to move Haiti in a democratic direction. We should not expect perfection before we offer assistance," Richard N. Holwill, deputy assistant secretary of state, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.

Haiti's Parliament voted to formally recognize deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide as Haiti's leader under conditions that diplomats and Aristide's backers said give him no real power. A spokesman for the U.N. mission that has been trying to fashion a political agreement said that Western powers will reject the plan and impose tougher economic sanctions against Haiti.

The Clinton administration vowed to impose economic sanctions against Haiti unless it strengthens democratic procedures in advance of presidential and legislative elections set for Nov. 26. The warning was issued by Luis Lauredo, U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, at an OAS permanent council meeting on OAS efforts to help build democracy in Haiti.

After almost four agonizing months of diplomatic maneuvering, Haiti's political crisis is no closer to an end than when a coup ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Sept. 30. But the suffering it is causing the Haitian people is worsening. It's time for Washington to end the heartbreak. A good first step was Monday's recall of the U.S. ambassador to protest a police attack on a peaceful political meeting.

The Clinton Administration, clearly running out of patience, Tuesday called on ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to accept a new proposal by members of the Haitian Parliament to install a coalition government as a step toward restoring democracy.

Army troops forced a U.S. senator Sunday to abandon a fact-finding trip to the border with the Dominican Republic in the latest snub to international efforts to force military leaders into giving up power. Armed soldiers turned back U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of Florida when he tried to visit Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic to check on enforcement of international economic sanctions against Haiti. Accompanied by U.S. Ambassador William L.

The United States today will ask the U.N. Security Council to renew economic sanctions against Haiti and the military junta that refuses to allow exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return. But new sanctions will be no more successful than previous ones unless both the United Nations and Washington come down hard on any countries that try to get around them.

Last week, when the U.N. Security Council set a deadline to impose economic sanctions against Haiti's military government, Gen. Raoul Cedras blinked for the first time. The surest sign that the Haitian strongman knows the United Nations is serious came in his letter to the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, Argentine diplomat Dante Caputo. In it Cedras referred to Jean-Bertrand Aristide as "Mr.

International human rights monitors will be sent to Haiti within the next 10 days in an attempt to end the repression that has driven thousands of impoverished Haitians to try to flee the beleaguered island, U.N. envoy Dante Caputo said Thursday. Caputo said that the military-dominated government, which ousted elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in September, 1991, has agreed to accept the monitors and to begin negotiations aimed at restoring Aristide to power.