Talks on Haiti Stall as Military Fails to Attend
Talks on restoring ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power collapsed Friday when military representatives failed to attend.
The no-show dimmed chances for a quick end to Haiti’s crisis, which results from the military’s failure to step down as scheduled under a U.N.-brokered peace plan. It could lead to expanded sanctions on Haiti, already suffering under a U.N.-imposed oil embargo.
U.N. envoy Dante Caputo, who was to preside over the talks, will leave today for New York and Washington for consultations, said his spokesman, Eric Falt. Caputo blamed the army for the failure of the talks and for Haiti’s suffering.
In Washington, State Department spokesman David Johnson said the Clinton Administration regrets the failure of the army commander, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, to attend the talks. He said the Administration is considering additional steps it might take with other nations.
Aristide, who has been in exile in the United States since his overthrow in September, 1991, has asked the United Nations for a total commercial blockade.
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