US Department of State Daily Briefing #15:
Wednesday, 1/29/92
Snyder
Source: State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman Joseph
Snyder
Description: Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 29 19921/29/92
Category: Briefings
Region: Eurasia, North America, Caribbean, Southeast Asia,
Subsaharan Africa, E/C Europe
Country: USSR (former), Vietnam, South Africa, Haiti, Cuba,
Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro, Yugoslavia (former),
Philippines, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Netherlands, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Thailand,
United Kingdom, Venezuela
Subject: Democratization, State Department,
Development/Relief Aid, POW/MIA Issues, Cultural Exchange,
Trade/Economics, Immigration, Regional/Civil Unrest,
Human Rights
12:34 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. SNYDER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I've got a
couple of announcements. One is a housekeeping item. We posted this
yesterday, but let me repeat it.
At 3:30 today, there will be an On-the-Record briefing on the
Fiscal Year 1993 International Affairs Budget here in the Briefing
Room. The briefing will be led by Mr. Robert Bauerlein, Director of
Policy and Resources in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of State.
Mr. Bauerlein will be accompanied by representatives of AID,
USIA, DoD, and other State Department offices who were directly
involved in the preparation of the 1993 budget. After a short
statement, the briefers will take questions. A written summary of
the budget request is available in the Press Office now.
[Coordinating Conference on Assistance to the New Independent States:
Departure of Delegates/Country Members of Contact Group]
Second statement: Several members of the U.S. Delegation to the
Coordinating Conference on Assistance to the New Independent States
left Washington last night to travel to Mensk in Byelarus to meet on
January 31 with representatives of the New Independent States.
The U.S. delegation will be joined for the meeting in Mensk by
officials from Canada, the EC Commission, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, The Netherlands, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the United
Kingdom and Venezuela who, together, will constitute the Contact
Group for Coordinating Conference participants.
The purpose of the meeting is for the Contact Group to report on
conference proceedings and, in particular, the plans of action
discussed in each of the five working groups -- food, medicine,
shelter, energy and technical assistance. The Contact Group looks
forward to receiving comments from the representatives of the New
Independent States and beginning a consultation process on
humanitarian assistance.
I'll be happy to take your questions.
Q On that last item, they will be meeting in Mensk
with representatives of all 12 of the republics?
MR. SNYDER: Of all of the republics. Yes.
Q Joe, this afternoon, there will be high-level
contacts for the first time in Washington, I believe, between
Vietnam and the U.S. State Department. Can you tell us about
the agenda? And can you also tell us how close we may be at
normalizing relations?
MR. SNYDER: I'd rather not go beyond the statement
that we put out yesterday. We'll try to get you a readout after
the meeting takes place.
Q Joe, is the United States getting ready to offer
Fulbright scholarships to Vietnamese citizens?
MR. SNYDER: I am not aware of that. I'll be happy to
check into it. I have not heard of that.
[Haiti: US Urges Full Restoration of Democracy/Update]
Q Do you have an update on Haiti?
MR. SNYDER: Specifically, what? The refugee numbers?
Q Refugee numbers and reports of options, including
military options to try to resolve the crisis?
MR. SNYDER: Our policy is to support strongly OAS
sanctions and OAS mediation efforts to restore democratic rule
in Haiti.
Last weekend's events show that many of those who took
power in Haiti are seeking to derail efforts to reach a
negotiated solution. Those events only strengthen our view that
the full restoration of democracy is the only acceptable
solution to Haiti's crisis.
Hypothetical questions about other possible options are
purely speculative and we won't respond to them.
Q The lawyer who is representing the Haitian
refugees in Miami is saying that there are maybe about 2,000
refugees in Cuba who have already been cleared to come to the
United States but they haven't been brought here.
MR. SNYDER: I can give you the numbers of those who
have been cleared and those brought here. These numbers are
provided to us by the folks down there.
To date, 3,279 Haitians have been found to have a
plausible claim to asylum, according to the latest information
available from INS. Of these, 1,237 have been flown from
Guantanamo to the U.S. to pursue their claim to asylum. So you
can do the math.
Q There apparently are complaints that there are
2,000 there who could be brought here and they're not being
brought here quickly enough.
MR. SNYDER: They have been brought at fairly regular
intervals and in a fairly steady stream since the adjudication
process began -- since INS has begun to decide who has a
plausible claim. It's being done systematically. I don't
really have anything further to add.
Q Also on Haiti: Since you briefed the day before
yesterday, the numbers, I gather, have been very high. Could
you give us an update?
MR. SNYDER: Sure, I'd be happy to. Yesterday, 1,178
Haitians were picked up, according to information provided by
the Coast Guard. On January 27, there were 1,305.
We had figures yesterday, in case anyone asked. We
were saying 1,385 but that's been revised. It's now 1,305 for
January 27.
[South Africa: US Urges Political Change through Negotiations]
Q Two other parts of the world: Anything on the
arrest of the South African white extremists?
MR. SNYDER: Yes. We have noted over the last several
weeks a number of violent incidents in South Africa. Far
right-wing opponents of the peace process are suspected in many
of these incidents. The arrests reported stem from clashes with
the police last August, although in recent weeks other
extremists have been arrested in connection with school and post
office bombings.
We've repeatedly urged the South African Government to
carry out its responsibilities to preserve the peace and ensure
the safety of its citizens.
We again call on all parties, whatever their political
0000agendas, to commit themselves fully to furthering their aims
through the process of negotiated political change. In choosing
violence, extremists are out of step with the majority of their
countrymen.
Q Any statements on the general opening of
parliament -- some of the statements made in the South African
parliament?
MR. SNYDER: No.
Q In ASEAN: Do you have anything on the new accords
signed by ASEAN on a free-trade zone?
MR. SNYDER: Yes. I have a little bit here. The
United States warmly welcomes the decision to create an ASEAN
free-trade area. We have said on many occasions that we have no
objection to the formation of GATT-consistent free-trade areas.
In addition, we have strongly supported ASEAN efforts
toward increased economic integration and cooperation.
Q Joe, do you have something on the United States
and Cuba discussing a revision of the Migration Agreement
between them?
MR. SNYDER: I'm afraid I don't.
Q Could you take the question?
MR. SNYDER: What is the question? The question is,
"Do you have something," and the answer is no. (Laughter)
Q O.K. My question is, could you check and see if
the United States and Cuba are discussing a revision of the
Migration Pact between them, as reported by the Miami Herald?
MR. SNYDER: I'll be happy to.
Q Back to Haiti for a moment. The Miami Herald and
others have been reporting that the level of violence in Haiti
-- of soldiers fighting soldiers and civilians being caught in
the cross-fire -- has increased in recent days, and that that
might be one of the causes for this large exodus that's going
on. What is your analysis?
MR. SNYDER: In terms of our analysis of why this
increase, this was asked the other day, and I asked people to
look into it a little bit better. I've got a few more ideas,
but they're only suggestions.
We really don't have a definitive answer. Possible
reasons are it's becoming widely known that Coast Guard cutters
lie just offshore, making it safer for people to put to sea.
Immediate prospects for a rapid political solution and lifting
of the economic embargo have dimmed.
The storm season is subsiding, and the weather has been
fairly good recently, and the temporary lull over the holiday
period is now ended. This upsurge in numbers of Haitians
leaving may be a resumption, albeit an increased one, of the
earlier flow.
In terms of the situation on the ground, we find it
mixed. The political crisis is serious, there's no question.
Many Haitians have lost their jobs. At the same time, electric
service returned to many parts of the country after the recent
shipments of fuel. Food is available, although prices are high.
Specifically on the security situation, a U.S. Embassy
officer who visited southern Haiti and spoke with residents
recently -- in the last few days -- was unable to verify any
reports of widespread violence since the early days of the coup.
We're watching the situation closely through our
Embassy, and we remain in close touch with voluntary agencies
throughout Haiti.
Q Does the State Department have a reaction to Boris
Yeltsin's nuclear cuts? I know the White House has said
something, but do you have a separate statement?
MR. SNYDER: The Secretary is meeting with Yeltsin
today, so if there's a reaction, it's going to come from Moscow.
Q Back on Haiti: You said that the U.S. Embassy
officer visited southern Haiti and he was unable to verify that
widespread violence had taken place since the early days of the
coup. Are you talking nationwide? Are you talking about --
MR. SNYDER: That was an example of the way we're
watching the situation. That trip was confined to a certain
part of the country, but our understanding is that the security
situation throughout the country is similar to that, and we're
continuing to watch it closely -- both through our own
observations and by staying in touch with organizations that are
throughout the country.
Q So, in other words, when you say there's no
widespread violence, you're talking about the entire country and
not just one particular area?
MR. SNYDER: Right.
Q About Deputy Secretary Eagleburger's meeting with
the Serbian member of the Yugoslav Presidency: Did they discuss
the matter of recognition of the republics?
MR. SNYDER: Let's see. I think we had a readout of
that. I don't have it here.
Q Yes. But it doesn't say anything about that.
MR. SNYDER: Our position on recognition hasn't
changed. I don't know whether the subject came up. I don't
know the answer to that. I can check.
Q Did the U.S. require or ask for or receive any
information about the attitude of local Serbian leaders in
Croatia toward accepting the U.N. plan?
MR. SNYDER: In that meeting specifically?
Q Yes.
MR. SNYDER: I don't know. I'll check into that.
Q Can you check?
MR. SNYDER: Yes.
Q Do you have any comment about the news report this
morning on the arrest of Imelda Marcos in Philippines?
MR. SNYDER: No, I'm sorry, I don't. I don't have
anything on that. Would you like to get a reaction from us?
Q Yes.
MR. SNYDER: It's an internal matter within the
Philippine Government. I doubt if we're going to have a
specific reaction.
Q Do you ever -- have you ever prepared any general
comment concerning the Philippine presidential election? For
example, what do you think about the incumbent President Aquino
nominating her choice of a successor to be elected as president?
Is it the democratic way?
MR. SNYDER: The election system in the Philippines is
certainly a democratic system, and I think we will just leave it
to the people of the Philippines to work out who their next
president is going to be, without any specific comment on
individual candidates.
Q Thank you.
(The briefing concluded at 12:46 p.m.)