Haiti Embargo in Full Force; Ship Is Stopped : Caribbean: Reaction in the capital is minimal. However, if the sanctions drag on, the situation could worsen drastically.

The renewed international embargo designed to drive Haiti’s military from power took full force Tuesday, with little noticeable public reaction but with expectations that the already impoverished nation will sooner or later be brought to its knees.

A multinational flotilla of warships cruising offshore to enforce the embargo and intimidate Haiti’s military rulers carried out its first action, stopping a Belize-registered freighter bound for the Haitian port of Miragoane, the Pentagon reported.

At 2 p.m., the U.S. frigate Klakring challenged the vessel San Antonio via marine radio. Officials said the captain told them his ship was carrying powdered cement.

U.S. Coast Guard officers then boarded the vessel and inspected it without incident. Because cement is not one of the items banned under the embargo, the ship was later allowed to continue into port.

Although the nine-ship fleet has orders to cruise within sight of land, none of the vessels was visible in the Port-au-Prince harbor, and life went on routinely.

Most of Port-au-Prince’s major businesses and government offices were closed for the second day of mourning for assassinated Justice Minister Guy Malary. Gas stations were open with no rationing, nor were there any food lines.

Food stores and street-side stalls reported normal business, although there had been a rush of business over the weekend to prepare for the mourning period.

All this will change quickly and drastically if history is any guide here.

Although Haiti managed to stagger through nearly two years of a partially effective regional embargo put in place just after the Sept. 30, 1991, coup that overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the military caved in within a month when hit by the near-total international boycott last June.

The country, which has no oil reserves or refining facilities of its own, received its last petroleum shipment Oct. 3.

Under normal use, that would last six to eight weeks. Depending on rationing and energy cutbacks and the military’s willingness to share its private stock, diplomats and Haitian experts say Haiti will not run out of gas until February.

At the same time, shipments of food and other goods, including luxury automobiles, arrived in sufficient numbers before the embargo took effect to keep stores and businesses stocked well enough for several weeks of normal life.

Large grocery stores serving the wealthy were offering everything from U.S. peanut butter to Norwegian salmon to French deodorant. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem until December,” said a manager at the Eagle Market, a major supermarket in a wealthy suburb.

For the less well-to-do and the poor, fruits and vegetables as well as audio- and videocassettes, soap and ballpoint pens were readily available at street stalls.

At least some other aspects of the embargo will have a more immediate and drastic impact. Stanley Shrager, U.S. Embassy spokesman here, said Tuesday that a process is under way to revoke U.S. visas held by military officers and civilians who supported the coup or have engaged in recent violence.

He also said assets, including bank accounts held by those people, were being seized in the United States and throughout the world, making it difficult for those Haitians to pay for any goods that may evade the embargo.

A major reason for optimism by the international community was the repeated promise by the government of the neighboring Dominican Republic, with which Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola, to abide by the boycott. The promise was bolstered by an increase of Dominican troops on the border.

One of the major holes in the original regional embargo was the Dominican frontier, where truckloads of goods, including gasoline, were allowed to pass through.

But on this first day of the newest embargo, there were no signs of any impact on its main targets: army commander Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras and Police Chief Michel-Joseph Francois, the architects of the coup and the resistance to Aristide’s return.

They continued to insist that they will not leave office, as provided by an agreement Cedras signed last July 3 at Governors Island, N.Y., until they and their followers are protected by an amnesty law and given a share of power in Aristide’s government.

Rhetorically, at least, the military says the boycott, which it terms a blockade and an act of war, makes it only more determined to keep power, even if that means using violence.

Even though the capital has been relatively quiet, with only the normal gunfire heard at night, foreign governments continue preparing for violence.

The Belgian government has joined the Canadians in telling its citizens to leave. The United Nations flew most of its personnel out last week. American officials say they have not told U.S. citizens to leave, but they closed offices outside Port-au-Prince, and Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Anthony C. Quainton flew in Tuesday to oversee increasing protection of the embassy and diplomats’ housing.

U.S. officials said the warships off Haiti are authorized to intercept any vessel that is suspected of carrying contraband goods and block it from proceeding to a Haitian port. The embargo applies only to oil, arms and military- and police-related equipment.

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