U.S. claims credit for ‘strong shove’

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 10

U.S. claims credit for ‘strong shove’

NZPA-AP Washington Jean-Claude Duvalier’s fall, with a strong shove from the Reagan Administration, is the latest instance of a vigorous United States diplomatic drive against repressive Govemments in Latin America. Mr Duvalier fled Port-au-Prince for France on Friday aboard a United States Air Force Star Lifter transport. He left a taped message behind, to be played on national television and radio, suggesting he had made the decision himself “so a blood-bath (would) be avoided for my people.” Actually, an American official said, the United

States played a leading role in forcing Mr Duvalier’s ousting. “We don’t want to take too much credit, but yes we did,” said the official. “And he knows it. He knew that sooner or later we would make sure that he did (leave). But we wanted it done in a way that would bring about democracy and help prevent another Iran or Nicaragua.” The Reagan Administration immediately dangled the prospect of emergency aid, assured the new Government of continuing United States recognition, and said it would watch carefully to see if elections were held

and human rights observed. 1 More quietly, the United States has helped democracy replace authoritarian rule in Guatemala and Honduras, and two ambassadors, Harry Barnes, in Chile, and Clyde Taylor, in Paraguay, are credited with a quiet but forceful diplomatic campaign to bring about reform of those military-minded Governments.

In the last six yearselected civilian leaders have replaced authoritarian regimes in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti,

Honduras, Peru and Uruguay. “It’s more than a coincidence,” said Robert Gelbhard, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. “We have played a very active role. I’m not going to say we are solely responsible for it.” But he points to Guatemala, and there he takes “full credit" for the United States. "We used leverage and moral persuasion," he said. “We had observers at the elections. Vice-President George Bush was there.” Strategy must be matched to circumstances in a particular country. “We try to maintain a dialogue with all sectors,”

Mr Gelbhard said. “We try to encourage democratic forces.” Otto Reich, a State Department Latin American specialist, said the people of each country deserved the credit for changing to a democratic form of government. ,He said it was true in Haiti, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and elsewhere in Latin America. And yet, Mr Reich said, “this Administration has not been given sufficient credit for what it has done in behalf of democracy”. Sometimes the United States Government tried to prevent something from happening. Bolivia is an example.

In 1981-82 the military command there tried to stage a coup. American diplomats in La Paz “were successful in convincing them to give the idea up,” said a State Department official. Sometimes, said another official, the United States wanted to ease “an undesirable out, but it can’t be sure another undesirable won’t take his place.” So the repression went on. In Haiti the Administration applied the squeeze to Mr Duvalier in several ways: • SUS 26 million ($48.6 million) in economic aid were withheld because of

his spotty human rights record. • Americans were advised not to travel to the violence-pocked country. The more than 6000 already there were cautioned to remain indoors. • The Ambassador, Mr Clayton McManaway, paid a quiet call on Mr Duvalier on Thursday, informing him that he could stay .in power only with more repression and bloodshed. “It was a very oldfashioned repressive Government, inconsistent with the tremendous surge Of democracy in the hemisphere,” an Assistant Secretary of State, Elliott Abrams, said.