Military Rulers Demand Say in Haitian Cabinet : Caribbean: Brother of police chief says exiled president must include coup supporters in government. He calls boycott ‘an act of war.’

Army commander Raoul Cedras and Police Chief Michel-Joseph Francois are demanding that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appoint some of his most powerful enemies to at least four key Cabinet ministries before they will leave their posts or allow the exiled leader to return.

Evans Francois, the older brother of the powerful police chief and a key adviser to Cedras, said in an interview with two American reporters Monday that “a big Macoute . . . a big Duvalierist” must be named to head each of the defense, interior, social welfare and information ministries.

Speaking over a lunch of lobster and white wine, the erstwhile diplomat was emphatic in using the names applied to the followers of the Duvalier family that ruled Haiti by brute force for 30 years until 1986 and backed the revolt against Aristide.

Francois added that other ministries should be given to other parties and organizations that “supported the coup” that ousted Aristide on Sept. 30, 1991.

Since there are only 13 Cabinet posts in the Haitian government, Francois essentially was demanding that Aristide create a “government of national reconciliation” controlled by the very elements that drove him from office.

Francois--a slightly built man of 41 with the sophisticated manners of a veteran diplomat and who served several years in Washington--also said the international economic boycott that went into effect at midnight is “an act of war” that could trigger violence, including attacks on foreigners.

While he and others who back Cedras and Michel-Joseph Francois, often with deadly force, said violence will be inevitable if they do not get their way politically and the embargo lasts, they also said the immediate future will be peaceful while efforts continue for a negotiated settlement.

That seemed to be the state of affairs.

Government offices, schools and many businesses were closed Monday because of a national day of mourning called by pro-Aristide Prime Minister Robert Malval for Justice Minister Guy Malary, who was murdered last week.

There also was an edginess in the capital because of rumors that have spread for several days that either U.S. forces from warships off the coast will invade or anti-Aristide gangs will be terrorizing the streets.

There were no reports of any unusual violence.

One U.S. Navy gunboat that had been in clear view in the Port-au-Prince harbor Sunday had pulled back out of sight to at least three miles offshore, and there were no unusual displays of power by either the military or its auxiliaries wearing civilian clothes.

As a result, by midday people were walking on the streets; the colorful bus-like vehicles called tap taps were careening every which way, and shops and roadside stalls were doing business.

But there were sobering signs of the reality that lurks throughout Haiti. According to Radio Metropole, a usually reliable voice here, at least 12 people died in political killings over the weekend.

That sense of violence was a major subtext of the lingering lunch with Evans Francois.

There are two ways the country can go in dealing with the current crisis, he said.

“One is the way of catastrophe. The second is the way of national reconciliation. If they (the Aristide forces and the international community) are ready for the way of catastrophe, we are also ready.

“The blockade is a state of war,” Francois said. “Under the constitution, everyone has a right to a gun, and more guns have been purchased in the last week. As (the international) pressure increases, so will violence increase.

“If a man has a gun and has not eaten for three days (as a result of the embargo), he will kill people . . . and as that violence increases, no one can control who will be killed.”

Francois said he knows that violence will not solve anything, but he, his brother and Cedras have all pledged to stay and fight to the death if the United States or other nations intervene directly.

“We accept that we cannot fight President Clinton. It is like the law of nature; the big fish eats the little fish. But it is better to be killed like that instead of being forced to leave the country.”

The alternative, Francois said, is the national government of reconciliation including all of the important parties that supported the coup.

Francois, who is seen as a power behind the scenes, added yet another catch. “Aristide and Malval must take this first step (appoint the pro-army coup supporters) and then we will convince the army and the (Duvalierist) base to understand the need for national reconciliation.”

Only then--and “then” could be “three years,” he explained--will Michel-Joseph Francois and Cedras leave their posts. The police chief and the army commander do not trust the pro-Aristide officials, “so they have to act first,” he said.

Meanwhile, allied warships stood ready to begin enforcing the U.N. embargo as soon as it went into effect at midnight Monday (9 p.m. PDT), Pentagon officials said. The United States has six vessels on patrol, and Canada has three.

The embargo applies only to shipments of oil, arms and equipment related to the military and police.

Officials said the rules of engagement for enforcing the embargo will be similar to those used by the allies during the Persian Gulf War, when the United States sought to embargo shipments to Iraq: The warship’s captain will contact the suspected vessel by radio and check its sailing orders to determine what it is carrying. Naval officers may decide to board the ship for inspection.

Times staff writer Art Pine in Washington contributed to this report.