Haitian refugees’ exodus begins

More than 500 Haitian refugees are being held aboard Coast Guard cutters at sea as the U.S. government girds for a new wave of refugees seeking to cross 600 miles of ocean from the strife-torn nation to America.

Plucked from a dozen boats in the Windward Pass northwest of Haiti, where Haitian boat people historically have begun the treacherous journey to the United States, the refugees were described by U.S. authorities as the first of many who will seek to escape an expected rebel assault on the capital, Port-au-Prince.

More than 70,000 Haitians were intercepted at sea in the three years of violence after a military coup in September 1991, when Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide first was deposed.

The Coast Guard was conducting both air and sea patrols yesterday in the ongoing hunt for Haitian refugees, law-enforcement authorities said. U.S. policy is to send Haitians found at sea back to Haiti.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told the Senate Budget Committee yesterday that he and President Bush were working for a political solution in Haiti, but continued to be concerned about a “spurt in the number of people” attempting to escape by boat.

“We are in a difficult moment in the life of Haiti, in the life of the Haitian people,” Mr. Powell said. “It’s a great disappointment to me to find ourselves in this position. … The political process, the democratic political process in Haiti, has essentially collapsed. And the international community is ready to get engaged, willing to get engaged.”

In later comments, Mr. Powell expressed doubt about whether Mr. Aristide could stay in power.

“Whether or not he is able to effectively continue as president is something he will have to examine carefully in the interests of the Haitian people,” Mr. Powell said.

Meanwhile, the administration is being pressured by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Democrats to intervene more directly.

“It seems ludicrous that we would look at an island … off of our coast with a newly elected president, elected through a democratic process, and not give them relief and refuge,” Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, Texas Democrat, said yesterday, arguing that the alternative was “a complete massacre.”

“I hope that this country still promotes the idea of democracy … even if you have a problem with the administration there, in this case Aristide, he is still elected and is supported by the people in Haiti.”

CBC members met Wednesday for 90 minutes with Mr. Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to urge intervention in Haiti, the world’s oldest black republic. Mr. Bush joined the meeting for about 30 minutes.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat and the caucus chairman, said after the meeting with administration members, “We respectfully asked the president to use his office and his voice to send a clear message to the rebels and thugs now set on overthrowing a democratically elected government that the United States and the international community will not stand by and let that happen.”

He did not return calls yesterday seeking elaboration.

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