Aristide Hints He’d Support Intervention

WASHINGTON —  Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide stepped up his barely veiled call for U.S. military intervention in his nation, asking the Clinton Administration on Friday for “swift and determined action to remove the coup leaders . . . and restore democracy.”

Aristide said he could not call explicitly for military action, claiming that Haiti’s constitution prohibits him from inviting foreign troops to intervene.

“However, I do believe that action can be taken to rid the nation of the thugs who have taken her hostage,” he said.

Aristide’s chief U.S. adviser, former Rep. Michael D. Barnes, added: “We all know what he means; he’s just constrained from saying it explicitly.”

The ousted Haitian president made his statement during a speech in a U.S. Senate hearing room--part of a concerted effort to mobilize pressure by members of Congress and human rights groups for a U.S. invasion of his homeland.

Administration officials said they have made no decision to invade Haiti to topple the military regime that overthrew Aristide, the nation’s first democratically elected leader, in September, 1991.

Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said the Administration still hopes the military rulers can be forced from office through economic sanctions.

“The President . . . (has) no desire to put American soldiers in harm’s way in Haiti or anywhere else,” Talbott told business people during a visit to Venezuela, the Reuter news agency reported.

But Clinton has also said he will not rule out the option of military force if economic sanctions fail. And other officials have said that an explicit invitation from Aristide would make it easier for the United States to act.

One U.S. official said Aristide’s not-quite-explicit plea Friday did not go significantly beyond earlier statements. But the Haitian leader’s speech, at a conference sponsored by the African American foreign policy lobby Trans-Africa, signaled a stepped-up effort to pressure the Administration to take military action.

“I am in favor of intervention,” said TransAfrica Director Randall Robinson, who helped push the Administration to provide hearings for Haitian refugees by going on a hunger strike last month. He said a multinational force could overthrow the Haitian military “in a matter of days . . . (and) could be very quickly replaced by United Nations peacekeepers.”

Aristide said he does not favor a “military occupation” of Haiti but added that he would accept deployment of U.N.-sponsored military trainers in his country for at least six months and probably longer.