Haiti Sanctions Show Leaks in Several Key Areas : Caribbean: Air France refuses to join air embargo. Gasoline price falls, a sign smuggling is flourishing.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The new, tighter economic sanctions that are supposed to drive the military out of power here are proving ineffective in key areas, including the refusal by a major Clinton Administration ally to shut down air service as part of the punitive measures.
In fact, Air France, with French government approval, is adding flights, even as the rest of the international community stops service to Haiti next week. Air France is also considering substituting its giant Boeing 747s for the 737s that it normally flies here.
This would create a significant hole in the latest U.S. effort to isolate and punish the military regime and its civilian allies in an attempt to force the restoration of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted in a September, 1991, coup.
Two other sanctions--bans on the import of gasoline and other fuel oils and on financial transactions between the United States and Haiti--are also not working as effectively as they were supposed to, evidence suggests.
The price of smuggled gasoline, which exceeded $9 a gallon when the international fuel ban took effect May 22 and was still more than $8 a gallon a week ago, dropped Friday to as little as $6 a gallon.
That is the lowest figure since early spring. Although it is a high price, it is still affordable for the wealthy elite who own most of the 60,000 cars registered here.
Supplies are “coming in by plane, by ship and over land--it’s wherever and whenever you want it,†said a businessman involved in smuggling everything from gasoline to cosmetics. “If you want it, you can get it.â€
The Haitian military sees the sanctions’ growing ineffectiveness and the embarrassing action by the French, diplomats and Haitian political experts say, as another sign that the United States is either not serious about restoring Aristide or that it lacks international support to do so.
Enforcing their view is the continuing inaction by the United States to follow up on its stated policy of punishing the military’s wealthy civilian supporters by withdrawing their U.S. visas and residence permits.
“Not one of the members of the (four most powerful pro-military) families have been acted against,†said a U.S. official, although the U.S. Embassy here has sent a list of people to the State Department for inclusion.
The prime source for fuel, as well as most other products that can be found in the shops and markets favored by the wealthy, is the neighboring Dominican Republic, diplomats and businessmen say.
The Dominican Republic has been the chief leak in all previous sanctions efforts against Haiti, dating to the 1991 coup, when newly reelected Dominican President Joaquin Balaguer agreed to seal the border, but the Dominican military joined its Haitian colleagues to make millions of dollars by flouting that plan.
“What’s going on there (the border) is ridiculous,†a foreign official here said. Dominican border troops “shoot little Haitians†who are smuggling goods across the frontier on foot by day but “allow trucks carrying tens of thousands of gallons of gas to cross at night.â€
There have been at least three such confirmed shootings, including at least two deaths this week at border points where businessmen say they have brought across contraband.
“It’s not a problem,†one smuggler said. “You just get the cooperation of the (Dominican) captain.â€
He also spoke of continuing to bring in the raw materials for consumer products his factory produces and exporting them to the Dominican Republic.
The United States has at least six warships and two ocean-going speedboats to patrol the Haitian coasts with assistance from an Argentine destroyer and a Canadian frigate.
While U.S. Embassy officials say there have been several interdictions of Haiti-bound ships, dozens are getting through, business and other sources say, particularly at the southern port of Jacmel.
“The airport (in Port-au-Prince) is full of planes,†one source said, “and freighters are still getting into Jacmel,†which has one of the closest harbors and airports to the Dominican Republic.
Practically speaking, in terms of maintaining Haiti’s economy, breaking the air embargo is less important than the smuggling of fuel and other products.
But Clinton Administration officials have maintained this week that the impending end of air service was seriously affecting Haiti’s rulers.
Air France’s action, therefore, has brought howls of private protest from the United States and Aristide supporters, particularly because France is one of five countries assigned by the international community to oversee the pro-Aristide strategy.
Industry sources say Air France had a weekly round-trip capacity of 560 passengers. But starting with the June 24 cutoff of all other air traffic, the airline has tentative plans to increase its available seats to 2,400.
Tourist agencies and Air France reported Friday that all the flights--in and out, from spots such as Santo Domingo and Martinique--are booked through July, including blocks of seats reserved by the United States for several hundred Haitians expected to receive political asylum.
After an executive order issued on June 12 by President Clinton, all other international carriers agreed to cut off all passenger service to Haiti.
Some U.S. sources said that Air France initially had agreed to the flight ban but changed its mind this week when the French Foreign Ministry said it could keep flying, at least until early September; officials said this would give French citizens here sufficient time to leave.
But other sources noted that this is a time of year when the Haitian elite traditionally spends large sums to vacation in France.
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