U.S. Aid Hinges on Free Elections, Haiti Is Told : Caribbean: In unusually tough language, Quayle warns the military: ‘No coup. No murders. No threats.’

Closing a swift tour of four Latin countries, Vice President Dan Quayle arrived in impoverished Haiti on Thursday with a plea and a blunt warning that unless its military allows free elections in November, it faces more cuts in foreign aid.

Using unusually tough language for a diplomatic setting, Quayle told a meeting of Haitian military officers in the Presidential Palace:

“We take note of the assurances of the Haitian army that they will not allow a coup and that they will not allow the democratic process to be impeded. So my message is: No coup. No murders. No threats. And, instead, free and fair elections that will bring honor to the brave people of Haiti.”

Earlier, speaking with reporters on his plane en route from Bolivia, the vice president, discussing the Haitian elections, said, “If you are going to have a country that is not democratic and is not respectful of human rights, they are not going to be recipients of the American taxpayers’ money.”

American economic aid of $100 million a year was cut drastically in 1987 when the armed forces, still linked to the despised dictatorships of Presidents Francois Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude, turned elections into a violent and bloody sham by allowing thugs to massacre more than 30 civilians trying to vote. Since then, U.S. aid has risen to $60 million a year.

New elections have been set for Nov. 4, and Quayle, in his meetings with Gen. Herard Abraham, commander-in-chief of the Haitian armed forces, and his top officers, clearly wanted to ensure that these elections are allowed to proceed democratically.

“I think Gen. Abraham is committed to having secure elections,” Quayle told reporters. “The question is whether he can implement this.”

He said it was important that outsiders like himself come to Haiti before the elections to impress upon the military the importance of free elections. He mentioned former President Jimmy Carter and President Carlos Andres Perez of Venezuela as others who have come to Haiti on similar missions.

He said that Haiti, despite the overthrow of the younger Duvalier in February, 1986, stands with Cuba as the only holdouts against democracy in the hemisphere.

He said the Bush Administration, which has offered Haiti $3 million to organize free and secure elections, wants the United Nations to send observers to the Haiti elections. He discussed this Tuesday, he said, with Perez and President Cesar Gaviria of Colombia, but he ran into a snag.

While the Bush Administration wants the United Nations to act swiftly through the Security Council, Perez and Gaviria want action to be taken by the U.N. General Assembly, which, unlike the Security Council, is dominated by Third World countries.

“It’s a plausible argument,” Quayle said, “but time is of the essence.” He said he fears that the General Assembly would act too slowly on observers for Haiti.

Quayle seemed generally optimistic about the chances for fair elections in Haiti, but he told reporters: “I’m not going to disabuse you of the fact that there are some very bad people in Haiti. It’s a very divided country.”