Judge Sworn In as Haiti’s Interim President; U.S. Rejects New Regime : Inauguration: Joseph Nerette vows to promote national reconciliation during his tenure.

Risking tough international sanctions, this embattled island nation on Tuesday installed Supreme Court Justice Joseph Nerette as its interim leader to replace deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The National Assembly convened in formal session eight days after Aristide was removed in a military coup to swear in his successor. This set the stage for new elections within 90 days.

With the support of Haiti’s business and political establishment, the lawmakers spurned an ultimatum from the Organization of American States to reinstate Aristide or face economic and diplomatic isolation.

The White House immediately said it would not recognize the new regime.

Subsequently, the OAS on Tuesday night unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a hemispheric trade embargo and urging member nations to freeze Haitian assets.

The resolution, approved at the end of an 11-hour session, also authorized the creation of a civilian mission to help restore democracy in Haiti, reaffirmed support for Aristide and condemned the decision to install Nerette.

At the State Department, spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said of Nerette’s installation: “We do not accept the Parliament’s forced action as a legitimate constitutional action.”

“Our view is that there is no constitutional vacancy and we will not recognize a provisional government,” she said. “President Aristide was forced from office illegally by force of arms. The Parliament acted . . . at gunpoint.”

In effect, this impoverished nation of 6 million people dared the United States and other Western Hemisphere neighbors to impose sanctions and cut off oil and food imports. “To blockade our port and leave us without anything to eat would be genocide,” said Louis Dejoie, leader of a center-right political party here.

In his inaugural speech, the 67-year-old Nerette said that he is not a politician and never has been. As interim president, however, he will have the power to name a new prime minister and Cabinet officers to replace those chosen by Aristide. They also would serve on an interim basis, pending the outcome of new elections.

Nerette said in a forceful address to the legislature that he would promote national reconciliation in his anticipated brief tenure. He received the loudest applause when he condemned “necklacing”--mob murder in which a burning tire is placed around a victim’s neck--a practice that Aristide seemed to condone on at least one occasion. Aristide since has renounced this.

Only three-fifths of the lawmakers were present at the session, which was boycotted by the diplomatic corps.

Brig. Gen. Raoul Cedras, spokesman for the coup leaders, was an honored guest at the ceremony along with seven other members of the army high command. Blue-shirted police and soldiers in olive-drab fatigues, armed with automatic weapons, were visible at the doors and in the gallery.

But in contrast to the scene Monday, when lawmakers conducted a preliminary vote to replace Aristide and designate Nerette as his successor, soldiers at the legislative building Tuesday did not shoot in the air or try to intimidate the legislators.

“The only language of the army is the use of guns. The soldiers had not come to kill” on Monday, said Jean-Claude Roy, a Haitian businessman. “But there were verbal threats like ‘Get it done in 30 minutes or you won’t leave the building.’ ”

Lawmakers invoked Article 149 of the Haitian constitution to declare the presidency vacant, because Aristide fled to escape the Sept. 30 coup.

Although elected with almost 70% of the vote last December, he antagonized the powerful army and political leaders after he took office in February. He added to the furor by appearing to condone mob violence against his opponents.

While the OAS voted 34-0 to condemn the coup that ousted Aristide and viewed his reinstatement as a test of a new commitment to democracy in this hemisphere, some Haitians felt otherwise.

“The world community must accept that Aristide cannot return here without the support of foreign military forces,” said one political leader. “If he came back by himself, they’ll kill him.”

The United States and other OAS members--who continued Tuesday to debate their next course of action--have few options left. Economic sanctions are already in place, and a delegation of seven Latin foreign ministers and a top-level U.S. official failed to persuade the Haitian military to relinquish its hold on power.

There is no doubt that the OAS could muster sufficient military muscle, most of it American, to rout the Haitian army. But a senior State Department official said Monday that President Bush has not changed his view that it would be a mistake to send U.S. troops to Haiti.

Nevertheless, Argentina and Costa Rica called on the OAS to take military action. Aristide, in a letter to the OAS, urged it to send a civilian force to Haiti to “support constitutional democracy.” But it was unclear what such a force--which diplomats said would number about 500 people--could accomplish in tense and uncertain Port-au-Prince.

The army is reported by diplomatic sources to be determined to block Aristide’s return to power. Aristide supporters--many frightened of reprisals from army units--have kept a low profile. Some have fled the capital, seeking safety in the countryside. At least 85 people have been killed by army troops in the since the coup and hundreds of others wounded. Some diplomats here believe that the death toll may be in the hundreds.

If Aristide is not restored and sanctions are imposed, it may be the working poor--the base of his following--that suffer the most. Haiti is one of the world’s poorest nations. Average annual income is less than $200 and life expectancy is only 53 years. It depends heavily on imports for oil, some food and capital goods. The United States provides $90 million a year in aid and other nations give $241 million.

But one Haitian with extensive international experience believed that the impact of sanctions would not be serious. “I doubt there is the political will to enforce them,” he said.

A U.S. official, however, scoffed at the idea that the private sector would be able to finance Haiti’s essential imports. “Let them try it for two or three months and see how they like it,” the official said.

Eaton reported from Port-au-Prince and Kempster from Washington. Times staff writer Don Shannon in Washington contributed to this report.

BACKGROUND

Haiti’s interim president, Joseph Nerette, 67, was the third-ranking justice of the 12-member Supreme Court. Named to the high court in 1988 by a military government, he has earned a reputation for judicial integrity and staying out of politics. He was born in Port-au-Prince, where he earned his law degree. He taught for 20 years, was a government substitute prosecutor in the capital from 1971 to 1978 and an appeals court judge from 1978 to 1988. Nerette is married and has seven children. He speaks Creole, French and Spanish.