Haiti Revolts

Reversing itself, the National Assembly has decided to send a delegation to negotiate with ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide about conditions for his return to power, a legislative leader said Thursday. Meanwhile, 19 college students sought shelter at the Canadian Embassy, one day after barging into the building and saying they feared for their lives.

The Bush Administration learned one of the cruelest lessons of foreign affairs this week: Policies that are designed to deal with situations far away may not be very workable when applied closer to home. The painful case in point comes over Washington's controversial decision to turn away Haitian refugees who are risking shipwreck and drowning to escape their homeland, now under military-imposed government.

A federal appeals court Friday upheld an emergency restraining order that has stopped the Bush Administration from repatriating thousands of Haitians who have fled their impoverished land in sailboats. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta also ruled that attorneys for the Haitians could interview the refugees, being held at sea on 15 Coast Guard cutters and at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Defying hundreds of angry protesters called out by the military-backed interim government, an Organization of American States team arrived Sunday in Haiti to negotiate the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But Aristide, visiting Bolivia to meet with President Jaime Paz Zamora, said that only a total trade embargo will restore him to office. "I do not agree with negotiations with these criminals," Aristide said, referring to the regime installed after the violent Sept.

President Bush, recalling the rage that U.S. armed intervention usually produces in Latin America, said Friday that he is unwilling to send American troops to Haiti, even as part of a multinational force, to restore ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "We're committed to the restoration of democracy" in Haiti, Bush told a White House news conference. "We feel very strongly about it. I am reluctant to use U.S.

The government declared a state of emergency, ordered troops on maximum alert and censored the media Wednesday after soldiers again revolted and demanded the ouster of Haiti's leader, Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril. It was the second apparent mutiny within the 7,000-member army since Sunday, when Avril narrowly escaped an attempt to overthrow his six-month-old government. But diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Avril remained in control.

A general strike in Haiti called Monday to protest election violence eight days ago only partially shut down the island nation's capital city, according to reports from Port-au-Prince. Some shops and factories stayed open and many workers trudged to their jobs despite the reduced availability of mass transportation. Confusion seemed to be one reason that the strike was less than fully effective.

The country's four major political parties, its largest labor union and several other groups opposed to Haiti's military government called Saturday for a general strike beginning Monday that could paralyze this strife-torn Caribbean nation.