Embargo of Haiti Begins

A crippling worldwide trade embargo went into effect at midnight Saturday to punish Haiti’s military rulers for not reinstating their ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The United Nations gave the go-ahead for the ban to begin, and business owners shipped out their last wares.

The new sanctions place a trade ban on all but food, humanitarian supplies and medicine. The ban stiffens a fuel and arms embargo that went into effect in October after military rulers reneged on an agreement to step down.

President Clinton, meanwhile, signed an executive order to carry out the U.S. role in the embargo.