US Department of State Dispatch,
Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: Coordinating Assistance to The New Independent
States
Bush
Source: President Bush
Description: Opening address before the Coordinating Conference on
Assistance to the New Independent States, Department of
State, Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 22 19921/22/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: Eurasia
Country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan
Subject: Trade/Economics, Development/Relief Aid
[TEXT]
(introductory remarks deleted)
I just want to give a warm welcome to the United States and to Washington-
-our capital--to the many distinguished guests in this room today who
include foreign ministers and senior officials from 47 countries, the United
Nations, major international financial institutions, and other major
international organizations.
We come together this morning as partners at a historic time--a turning
point in our century and, I think, in modern history. Our mission is to
respond together to the dramatic revolution that swept away Soviet
communism and left in its place 12 new nations moving to establish their
place in the world and struggling with the critical task of feeding, clothing,
and housing their peoples this winter, this spring, and beyond.
Before you discuss these issues in depth over the next 2 days, I wanted to
take a moment to reflect on the meaning of these events in the former
Soviet Union for those of us in North America, in Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Pacific--in all corners of the globe.
For nearly 50 years, throughout most of the adult lives of almost everyone
in this room, mankind endured a dangerous global conflict--the Cold War. It
divided continents and peoples and held all countries hostage to the
possibility of nuclear annihilation. The free world rose up against that
threat posed by Soviet expansionism in the decades after the Second World
War. We spent hundreds of billions of dollars and sacrificed precious lives
and national resources in that great struggle.
With the revolution in Eastern Europe in 1989 and in the Soviet Union in
1991, that mortal threat has withered. With the dissolution of the Soviet
Union itself, just last month, we find ourselves at the entryway to a new
world--a world of hope for a lasting peace and growing prosperity.
Led by a courageous President, Boris Yeltsin, reformers have come to power
in the enormous Russian federation. Ukraine has won independence. The
Government of President Leonid Kravchuk holds out the promise of a new
political and economic order.
In Armenia, a former prisoner of conscience, President Ter-Petrosyan, has
led an extraordinary national effort to transform his country's economic
system and liberate his people from political oppression. In Central Asia,
[there are] the same stories, as President Nazarbayev [of Kazakhstan and]
President Akayev [of Kyrgyzstan] are leading the fight for reform there.
A new day has dawned throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States,
with hope for a fundamental transformation in the way people live and work
and think.
As we begin a new year and chart our course for the rest of this decade, let
us bring equal commitment to the challenge of helping to build and sustain
democracy and economic freedom in the former USSR, just as we did to
winning the Cold War.
Let us help the people throughout the independent states to make the leap
from communism to democracy, from command economies to free markets,
from authoritarianism to liberty. Then, let us pull together to win the peace
in this post-Cold War era.
We should not underestimate the enormity of this challenge and the
difficulty of unraveling economic dislocations resulting from over 70 years
of communist economics. Ultimate success or failure rests squarely with
the efforts and wisdom of the peoples of Russia and the Ukraine and the
Caucasus [and] Central Asia. The battle is really theirs to win. But they
cannot win it alone. These 12 new countries will need the hard work,
creativity, and goodwill of all of our countries from every continent.
That is why we meet today--to assure that our commitment and assistance
will be up to the task, well conceived, and efficiently executed. We meet to
demonstrate to the peoples in these new states that the international
community cares about them and supports their hard struggle to build new
societies on the ruins of communism.
So, let us join together to give these people a reason to hope. Let us commit
ourselves this morning to work in full partnership as we proceed.
First, we must continue to act resolutely this winter, this spring, and then
throughout 1992 to meet the critical emergency needs of these states--food
and medical supplies and energy and shelter. The shortages now evident
throughout the 12 states will not soon disappear and will require sustained
attention--our sustained attention.
Second, we must also meet the challenge of promoting economic growth and
development of new free market institutions through a collective
international effort to provide technical assistance. Our work will be
critically important to help the new states construct banking and taxation
systems to provide a healthier environment [and] to promote the rule of law
and, yes, nuclear safety.
In short, we must support those who are standing up for reform and freedom.
We should stimulate concrete investments and expanded trade. President
Boris Yeltsin's courageous economic reforms deserve our support, as do
efforts in the other states to introduce economic change.
Our success or failure will hinge on our ability to work effectively together
on this common cause. The challenge is too great for any one nation or group
of nations. It is a global challenge requiring the efforts and commitment of
nations from all over the world. Your presence here, a truly remarkable
presence, is vivid testimony that this is, and must be, a global coalition.
Nothing else can work.
As we come together during these 2 days--and then certainly in the months
ahead--let us do so constructively in the spirit of partnership, avoiding
sterile debates over which one of us has done the most or the least and
which should lead our response to this historic challenge.
All of us have a role and obligation to fulfill. Many of us have already
undertaken concrete actions to help. The European Community has
shouldered a major and generous share of the burden. Its prompt actions
over several years to provide humanitarian support were vitally important,
and its commitment to a vigorous technical assistance program is far
reaching and most welcomed.
Germany alone has assumed enormous responsibility in providing military
housing and in channeling credits to the former USSR and now to the
federation--to the Russian federation. Other EC governments have made
important contributions. The Atlantic alliance stands ready to help with the
knowledge that the peoples of the former USSR are moving toward the same
values that have sustained NATO since its birth.
It is especially satisfying to see here today our friends from Central and
Eastern Europe as the pioneers in discarding communism and embracing
democracy.
You are here as symbols of success. Though you still face problems
yourselves, the world applauds your willingness to help freedom elsewhere.
The challenges before us require efforts not just from Europe but from other
regions and countries as well. Japan has made important contributions [and]
commitments and will be critical to this effort. Now other nations in the
Far East and the Middle East and Latin America should commit their
expertise, their resources, to assure the success of reform.
I can assure you today that the United States, which for so long has led the
struggle to contain communism, is also contributing its share so that
democracy is its permanent replacement. For over 40 years, we have led in
the reconstruction and defense of the free world. Now that the torch of
liberty has sparked freedom among our former adversaries, the greatest
good of our long labor is at last visible.
The United States cannot, and will not, falter at the moment that these new
states are struggling to embrace the very ideals that America was founded
to foster and preserve. Accordingly, as a further US contribution to this
urgent worldwide effort, I am proposing that the Congress approve over
$600 million for new technical assistance and humanitarian efforts. In
addition to the assistance already announced, this will bring to over $5
billion the level of various forms of US assistance to these people in their
time of need.
In closing, I would like to reiterate the importance of seizing this moment
to commit ourselves, individually and collectively, to an opportunity that
may not come our way again in our lifetime. The prospect that our former
adversaries may become our friends and our partners--this is in the
national interest of every country represented around this table and those
countries that are not represented around this table.
By coordinating our efforts toward common goals, we have a chance to
reshape the world for our children and for generations to come. If we do
not, we risk the reversal of the historic leap to freedom made by the
Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, and other peoples during these last months.
So, let us work together over the next 2 days to promote our national and
collective security [and] continued global economic growth and to do what is
right for the ordinary people who yearn for a better, free life in these new
independent states.
Thank you all very, very much for being here. I know it is not easy to make
the long trek. It is desperately important. Thank you for this opportunity to
speak with you today. And may God bless the peoples of all the countries
represented here and the peoples of these new struggling independent
states. We have such confidence that we can succeed--all of us working
together.(###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: New Independent States And Their Capitals
PA
Source: Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public
Affairs
Description: Opening address before the Coordinating Conference on
Assistance to the New Independent States, Department of
State, Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 27 19921/27/92
Category: Fact Sheets
Region: Eurasia
Country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan
Subject: Trade/Economics, Development/Relief Aid
[TEXT]
States Capitals
Armenia Yerevan
Azerbaijan Baku
Byelarus Minsk
Georgia Tbilisi
Kazakhstan Alma-Ata
Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
Moldova Kishinev
Russia Moscow
Tajikistan Dushanbe
Turkmenistan Ashkhabad
Ukraine Kiev
Uzbekistan Tashkent (###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: Provide Hope
Baker
Source: Secretary Baker
Description: Address at the opening session of the Coordinating
Conference on Assistance to the New Independent States,
Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 22 19921/22/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: Eurasia
Country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan
Subject: Development/Relief Aid, Trade/Economics
[TEXT]
Ladies and gentlemen, let me echo the President's warm welcome, and thank
you all very much for your presence here today. One year and 1 week ago
today, a worldwide coalition launched a successful battle against naked
aggression. Today, we join together to form a new coalition to fight a new
battle, but one with an equally worthy and important cause.
We meet today to form a coalition to support freedom and democracy, a
coalition to help newly independent peoples to overcome a real human
emergency, a coalition to support them as they work to free themselves
from the fears and the shadows of their totalitarian past.
If this were a war, I suppose we would call it Operation Provide Hope. Yet
this is not a war to defeat aggression but a peacetime battle to support
democracy and to support freedom. For while the peoples of Russia and the
other independent states desperately need food and fuel, and medicine and
shelter; even more, I think, they need hope.
Hope that they can live their normal lives with bread on their shelves and
medicine in their hospitals; hope that there are ways out of this emergency;
hope, above all, that comes from knowing that the world cares about their
plight and is really ready to help--that is the message that this conference
must send.
Here in Washington today, 54 nations and international organizations have
joined together and have committed to coordinate with one another in
freedom's fight.
For all of us know that the peoples of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia,
Byelarus, Kyrgyzstan, and the other independent states are asking for our
helping hand so that democracy and free markets can take firm root in their
lands.
These newly liberated peoples know that the ultimate responsibility for
their success really lies in their own hands. They are not trying to evade
what President Bush has referred to as "the hard work of freedom." Nor are
they seeking charity or welfare.
But these peoples do know that we all have a stake in their success, as the
President has just said. And they know too, I think, that we all have
something to offer. They are only now learning the ways of democracy and
the ways of free markets. They look to us--they look strongly to us--for
guidance, to show them how to make our democratic values work in their
lands. They want to draw on our years, and decades, and even centuries of
experience with free markets and democracy so that they, too, can take
their rightful place in the global community of free nations.
For the collapse of the Soviet Union has left the rubble of communism
everywhere, and we need to help lift communism's dead weight so that these
new democracies have a chance to grow and have a chance to take hold. We
need to help them deal with the legacy of command economies, of excessive
militarization, and societal deterioration. They need our help, and they need
it in all sectors.
In the nuclear area, for example, the United States and others are working
hard to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass
destruction. President Bush has sent a team of experts to Moscow, to Minsk,
to Kiev, and to Alma-Ata to discuss how the United States can support the
secure control and the swift disablement and destruction of nuclear
weapons. This is a mission in which we all have a great interest and in
which we all have, as well, a great stake.
This mission includes "brain gain" proposals--that is, ways that American
scientists from our weapons laboratories might work jointly with their
counterparts in Russia and elsewhere to advance scientific knowledge
instead of designing weapons. We hope that others will contribute to this
effort.
But the nuclear arena is only an example. Across the board, the peoples of
the new independent states want the world's advice--especially through on-
the-ground experts who can show them the way to a better future. Most of
us are doing that in one way or another, and we need to redouble our efforts.
But as the international financial institutions work with the Russians and
others to devise credible long-term reform plans, and while individual
nations support political and economic reform through technical assistance,
the world now needs to focus on the very real emergency that the peoples of
Russia and the other independent states face today.
In the last few months, life in Russia and the other independent states has
deteriorated at a dangerously accelerating pace. We have seen Uzbeks die in
bloody price riots, Russians shiver in bread lines, hospitals without
vaccines, Aeroflot planes grounded by a fuel shortage, and military officers
continuing to protest the lack of adequate housing.
This humanitarian emergency encompasses lands that cross 11 time zones
and occupy one-sixth of the world's land mass. This emergency affects
close to 300 million people.
So it is, without a doubt, a global emergency. And it will require global
collective engagement to forestall further deterioration and to support
conditions for the success of democratic and market reform.
Our response, as the President has said, must be global because no other
approach is going to work. The problems of the new independent states are
too large for any one region or any one nation to try to solve alone. The EC
[European Community] Commission and EC member states, and especially
Germany, again as the President has noted, have taken a leading role in
supporting reform and in offering help.
The nations of Central and Eastern Europe--struggling themselves with
building democracy and economic freedom--have joined us here today
because they know that democracy in Russia, Ukraine, Byelarus, Moldova, and
elsewhere will support their democracies, too. They know, too, that our
commitment to their future is unshakable, and that we do not intend to
lessen our assistance to them.
But this emergency in the new independent states has profound
repercussions beyond Europe that are obvious to all. As a global emergency,
it has global effects and, again, demands a global effort.
Our response must be collective because that is how we can best use our
resources. We need to divide our labors to help meet their needs. Working
together, we can multiply our individual strengths to better coordinate and
thereby accelerate and expand the emergency assistance that we can
provide. For example, in the last month, German milk powder was shipped
via Canadian planes to Russia. Working together, we can target our
emergency assistance where it is needed most and where it can have the
most impact. And, in this way, we can avoid duplication of effort.
Our response must embrace the people, the people there and here. Our
collective effort must invoke the invaluable spirit and experience of our
private sector and our voluntary organizations. Those who need our help are
making a revolution from the grassroots to the highest councils of
government, and we need to help them from the grassroots to the highest
councils of governments. Public-private partnerships--as we have learned
through President Bush's medical initiative--can leverage contributions,
multiplying the value of our efforts. That is why we have asked our Citizens
Democracy Corps to hold a parallel conference today and tomorrow to
energize our non-governmental and voluntary organizations.
Above all, our collective response must aim to engage the Russians and
Ukrainians, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, Armenians and Byelorussians, and all of the
others to carry the crucial message of hope that I discussed earlier. As
Maxim Gorky wrote to Herbert Hoover in 1923, "It is not only the physical
help which is valuable but also the spiritual succor to the minds of
mankind." In short, ladies and gentlemen, we must send spiritual support
along with the food and medicine.
We have called this conference to coordinate, to accelerate, and expand our
efforts. In our view, this conference is just one step along a path of
continuing commitment to supporting these new states. It is not intended
to overtake or to replicate the efforts of others. It is intended to bring
together those most capable of contributing to this emergency effort and to
improve the coordination among us.
Throughout the conference, we will be presenting-- all of us, I hope--new
ideas about how together we can best meet emergency needs and how,
through technical assistance, we can build a "bridge" to long-term
democracy and free markets. We encourage everyone to propose their ideas.
What should matter to everyone in this room is what we get done, not who
gets the credit for it, because too much is at stake for us to follow any
other course. Results are what matter. Providing emergency assistance to
the peoples in need can give them hope in the future. It can give them faith
in the democratic leaders who have embarked on this courageous path,
leading them to that new future, and that is what is at stake here today and
tomorrow.
As we focus on these next 2 days, I think two goals are paramount.
First, the working groups should produce "work plans." By "plan," we do not
mean a fixed blueprint or a static document. Rather, we expect working
documents that the working group co-chairs and the other participants can
use as guides for action.
Second, we must identify appropriate follow-up mechanisms. However
organized, we need to ensure that coordination will continue into the
immediate future.
Let me close with the following. To the peoples of Russia and the other
independent states, we say: Stay the course, because freedom does work.
Democracy and economic freedom are not experiments but your only path to
a better future. History calls on your heroism once again to steel you
against new adversity. Working together with each other and the world,
democracy, freedom, and a better life can be yours.
To the peoples of Europe and the Americas, Asia and the Persian Gulf, we
say: Together, we can achieve what individually we cannot achieve.
To the American people, Republicans and Democrats alike, we say: Together,
we can be a source of hope. Let us avoid the isolationist slumber that
threatens to allow history to repeat itself. Let us pledge instead to tackle
the challenges both at home and abroad.
As Martin Luther King, a great American leader whose birth we remember
here in this country this week, once said: "The ultimate measure of a man is
not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he
stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk
his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In
dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and
beaten brother to a higher and more noble life."
We are all neighbors to the peoples of Russia and the new independent
states. So, ladies and gentlemen, let us all get to work, because it can be
done. Thank you very much. (###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: Closing Statement at Coordinating Conference
Baker
Source: Secretary Baker
Description: Remarks at the press conference concluding the
Coordinating Conference on Assistance to the New Independent
States, Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 23 19921/23/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: Eurasia
Country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan
Subject: Development/Relief Aid, Trade/Economics
[TEXT]
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to begin with a statement before turning to
each of the co-chairs of this conference for statements of their own, and,
after our opening comments, we will, of course, take your questions. Please
feel free to direct your questions to any one of the 54 heads of delegation
that are seated here.
Let me begin by saying that our discussions have been productive, and they
have centered on concrete and coordinated actions. In our meetings, 47
nations and 7 international organizations have rolled up their sleeves,
they've gotten down to work, and they've produced some tangible results.
Let me review some of these with you.
First of all, we have agreed to propose to the new independent states that a
contact group of conference participants meet in Minsk next week to review
the working group action plans. These independent states have already
provided us with preliminary assessments of their priority needs, along
with lists of city and oblast level official and voluntary officials who can
serve as points of contact for our future efforts.
Next week's meeting will begin more systematic follow-through between
international donors and the new independent states themselves.
Secondly, as the EC [European Community] announced yesterday, the EC will
host a follow-on conference in Lisbon within 90 to 120 days to assess how
the work coming out of the conference here is proceeding in dealing with the
emergency, where we need to expand our efforts, how we might further
improve international coordination, and my colleague from Portugal will
probably have more to say about that during the course of his presentation
in just a moment. We also welcome Japan's offer to host a possible third
conference.
Third, the working group co-chairs have produced detailed plans of action in
food, medicine, shelter, energy, and technical assistance. These plans of
action are intended to be working documents that will guide the co-chairs
as they take concrete steps to coordinate emergency assistance and to
interact with the new independent states.
My co-chair colleagues will perhaps go into more detail with you concerning
these, but we are summarizing these action plans for you, and we will
distribute fact sheets as soon as we possibly can, and I hope it's shortly
after we conclude here.
Fourth, I would like to say that Ambassador Richard Armitage will serve as
the operational on-the-ground coordinator of emergency assistance for the
United States. He has already begun consultations with other participants
to the conference on how best to mesh operational plans for emergency
shipments and how best to reduce the danger of food and medical shipments
being diverted.
NATO in particular has offered to provide logistic support. Other
participants are also appointing counterparts to Mr. Armitage.
Fifth, many participants have made a number of proposals, not only for
international coordination but also relating to their individual
contributions. The European Community has already demonstrated its deep
commitment to this effort and has made it clear that it will continue to do
so.
I have been told that over half the participants yesterday and today
presented some new idea of initiative to meet emergency humanitarian
needs.
Most importantly, proposals came from Latin America and the Persian Gulf,
as well as Asia and Europe, including the Nordic countries, the Central and
Eastern Europeans, and others, as well as the European Community. So I
think it's fair to say that we truly have a global effort.
In this respect, this conference is just the start of a continuing effort to
intensify and to coordinate a global response to this emergency. Expert
level discussions focusing on specific aspects of this emergency will
continue in the weeks ahead.
And, finally, ladies and gentlemen, let me take off my hat as host for just a
moment to briefly mention some specific US initiatives that have emerged
as a result of this conference. And, again, we will provide you with a list as
soon as it has been compiled and, hopefully, shortly after this press
conference.
These initiatives include such things as shipping appropriate Department of
Defense excess medical stocks, establishing partnerships between US
hospitals and their counterparts; providing logistics support to US private
sector groups who wish to ship medicine or food; putting up to 3,000 farm
volunteers on the ground; establishing housing advisers on the ground;
creating a training program for grassroots democracy with up to 500
participants; establishing a Eurasian foundation for democracy, free
enterprise, and training in leadership and management.
Putting these initiatives into practice will be made easier by the diplomatic
missions that we are establishing in the new independent states. By the end
of next week, the United States will have diplomats on the ground in Minsk,
Alma-Ata, Yerevan, and Bishkek, in addition to those that are already in
Moscow and Kiev. We also look forward to creating missions in the other
states once we have established diplomatic relations with those states.
Now, before turning to my co-chairs, I'd like to announce one additional
initiative. Beginning on February 10 and for 1 or 2 weeks thereafter, the
United States will undertake an airlift of critical emergency assistance
shipments. During this time, the US Air Force will fly 54 sorties of critical
medical and food shipments to cities in Russia and the new independent
states.
The first C-5s will leave on February 10 from Rhein-Main Air Base in
Frankfurt. We hope to airlift food and medical supplies to each of the 12
new independent states, provided the determination is made that they can be
delivered safely. To ensure shipments are adequately managed, distributed,
and monitored, the United States will deploy immediately teams consisting
of Department of Defense, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, and Agency
for International Development personnel and others. These teams will
manage the delivery to targeted groups and locations, including, for
example, orphanages and hospitals.
Of course, no airlift could ever come close to meeting all the needs of the
people of the new independent states. But this airlift that we are calling
Operation Provide Hope can help deliver the food and medical supplies that
are critically needed. Above all, Operation Provide Hope can vividly show
the peoples of the former Soviet Union that those that once prepared for war
with them now have the courage and the conviction to use their militaries
to say, "We will wage a new peace." (###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: Initiatives To Assist the New Independent States
PA
Source: Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public
Affairs
Description: Fact sheets released at the Coordinating Conference on
Assistance to the New Independent States, by the Department
of State, Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 23 19921/23/92
Category: Fact Sheets
Region: Eurasia
Country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan
Subject: Development/Relief Aid, Trade/Economics
[TEXT]
Operation Provide Hope
At the Coordinating Conference on Assistance to New Independent States,
the United States announced Operation Provide Hope--a major, short-term
airlift of emergency humanitarian assistance to the former Soviet Union.
The objective of Operation Provide Hope is to accelerate rapidly the
disbursement of critical food and medical supplies.
The United States Air Force will fly 54 sorties of medical and food
shipments to cities in Russia and the other new independent states. The
sorties will consist of C-5A, C-141, and possibly C-130 transport aircraft-
-the largest and most advanced transport aircraft operating in the United
States Air Force. The aircraft will carry Department of Defense excess food
and medical stocks, critically needed by the peoples of the former Soviet
Union.
Operation Provide Hope will begin February 10 and continue for 1-2 weeks
thereafter.
Operation Provide Hope aims to airlift food and medical supplies to each of
the 12 new independent states, provided they can be delivered safely. It is
the responsibility of the civil governments of the new independent states to
ensure safe conditions for emergency humanitarian relief shipments and
efforts.
Ambassador Richard Armitage will serve as the US operational coordinator
to ensure shipments are adequately managed, distributed, and monitored.
The United States calls on other participants in the Conference and members
of the international community to join in this effort to help meet critical
medical and food needs. The United States calls on others either to
contribute their own planes to this effort or to help fill American planes
with food and medicine shipments. The United States will be working with
others to coordinate this effort.
US Government Initiatives
Medicine
Department of Defense Medical Supplies. The US Government will ship
excess medical supplies (non-war reserve stocks) to regions in critical need
and provide distribution through the assistance of private voluntary
agencies. The Department of Defense:
-- Is prepared to make available excess Desert Storm stocks including the
equivalent of five C-5 aircraft-loads of medical supplies (gauze, syringes,
catheters, etc.), from stocks located in Oakland, California.
-- Will also supply $8.7 million of Desert Storm stocks of multi-purpose
oral antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin)--which represents more than 1 million
doses and a sixth C-5 load of medical supplies--stored in Pirmasens,
Germany.
-- Has also identified 58 sea containers of excess medical consumables
stored in California that can be shipped to the new independent states.
-- Is continuing to assess its inventory of excess medical stocks that can
be used for emergency assistance.
Emergency Medical Program. This program will help to alleviate critical
shortages of essential medicines and medical supplies including antibiotics
for the treatment of respiratory and other infectious diseases, vaccines to
immunize children and the elderly against life threatening diseases, drugs
to treat cardiovascular diseases and cancers, and disposable gloves and
syringes to prevent the spread of infections.
-- Through leveraging private contributions, the United States expects that
this program will lead to over $50 million in medicines and medical
supplies for the new independent states.
-- Over 50,000 children will be treated or vaccinated through this program.
The program is expected to begin Summer 1992.
Medical Airlift. The US Government will provide logistics support (that is,
air crews and planes) for one C-5 or equivalent-sized shipment of medicines
and medical supplies donated by any or all of the Conference participants to
the new independent states.
Nations in Hospital Partnerships. With other conference participants, the
United States will support the establishment of "hospital partnerships"
with comparable facilities in the new independent states to improve
sanitation, surgery, hospital administration, and equipment. The US goal
will be to establish up to seven such hospitals by end of 1992.
The first such partnership will be established between Norfolk Medical
Center and the Children's Hospital in Moscow to help improve the quality of
care offered in childhood infectious diseases and hematology.
Promoting US Trade and Investment in the Medical Sector. The system for
producing and delivering medicines, vaccines, and medical supplies has
deteriorated dramatically. The US Government, in partnership with
American business, will help these new independent states move from
dependency on donated medicines and supplies to the development of their
own privatized productive capacities. We will:
-- Field US industry audit teams to identity quick fixes to problems
limiting production. A side-benefit should be the purchase and installation
of US equipment and the creation of markets for the US health industry.
-- Undertake activities to encourage private American business, including
convening business roundtables, trade and investment missions, pre-
investment services, and support for private sector participation in health
services. This component would be carried out in conjunction with the
Department of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and
TDP.
Food
American Food For Freedom Partnerships. The US Government will support
private sector and non-governmental organization (NGO) efforts to donate
food and low-cost agribusiness equipment, through the provision of
logistical support, transportation, and expertise. Examples include offers
to donate flour, dairy products, processed foods, and other items from US
farmers, churches, and private voluntary organizations and businesses.
Farmer-to-Farmer Program. Over the next 3 years, the United States will
provide up to 2,000 farm volunteers for periods of 30-90 days to work
directly with private farmers in the independent states to help them
increase farm production and income. This program will initially target
Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan starting this spring.
Low-Cost Food Storage. The US Government will help alleviate one of the
most serious problems in the food production chain in the former Soviet
Union by helping to fund the installation of low-cost storage systems to
reduce the amount of food wastage.
US Agriculture Extension Services. The United States will expand its
current extension service program in Armenia to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
to teach basic skills to private farmers and improve food distribution and
market information.
Delivering Desert Storm Stocks. The Defense Department is making
available approximately 38.4 million lbs. of Desert Storm food stocks. This
represents $44.8 million worth of food and can provide 16 million meals.
These stocks can help alleviate some of the food shortages in the Donbass,
Volga, Urals, and Kuzbass industrial regions as well as St. Petersburg,
Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, and Petrazavodsk.
$165 million in Food Aid. The United States has already announced its
intention to deliver up to $165 mil-lion in grant food aid. In part, this money
is already being used to fund:
-- Food Deliveries to St. Petersburg--The United States will work with
local authorities to deliver 400 tons of dry milk to St. Petersburg over the
next 4 months.
-- Food Deliveries to Armenia. Via the Armenian-American Church, the US
Government will provide 10,600 tons of butter, butter oil, and wheat bulgur
to Armenia.
Energy
Energy Efficiency Project (Home Heating). US experts will help repair and
increase the efficiency of central heating plants for residential districts
and also demonstrate how to save energy in industrial plants. This program
will focus on refineries, large-heating plants, and residential energy
efficiency in the new independent states.
Coal Mine Safety Project. This initiative consists of support for an
expanded "Partners in Economic Reform" program, an initiative of the US
coal industry, several US railroads, and the AFL-CIO. The "Partners"
program helps to relieve logistical bottlenecks, and provide training in mine
safety.
Shelter
International Resident Advisor Program. These advisory teams would work
actively with local and national officials in the newly independent states as
well as entrepreneurs to help resolve short and long-term housing problems.
The United States, for its part, would provide international resident advisor
teams in 5 provincial cities and 1 capital, plus 5 person-years of visiting
specialists. We expect this program to be developed in coordination with
our conference partners.
Technical Assistance
Democracy-in-Practice Training Program. The United States will initiate a
program offering technical assistance in public policy and training at all
levels of government. The program will provide training in the United
States for newly elected state, regional, and local government officials. It
will also include a technical assistance program linking cities and states in
America with counterparts in the independent states. This initiative will
involve at least 500 participants.
Eurasian Foundation for Democracy, Free Enterprise, and Training in
Leadership and Management. The United States will establish a foundation
that will be broadly constituted to promote and strengthen market
economies and institutions concerned with representative government,
effective legal systems, human rights, and responsible media. Special
emphasis will be given to the development of a vital private sector by
providing technical assistance for privatization and management training.
The foundation will be uniquely equipped to provide immediate, quick-start,
on-the-ground assistance throughout the states of the former Soviet Union,
in partnership with American private voluntary and non-governmental
organizations.
Defense Conversion Demonstration Projects. The US Government will
consult on a priority basis, with local civilian and military authorities to
identify key defense conversion demonstration projects which are feasible
and meet our mutual objectives. These would include the re-direction of
weapons scientists to research on civilian projects, conversion of military
bases to transport hubs and industrial parks, and civilian-izations of the
industrial base through restructuring, retraining, and promotion of new
investments.
Energy Assistance
The Problem
Oil, coal, and electricity production have significantly decreased in the new
independent states, due to lack of internal investment, dislocations in the
equipment supply system, and general economic decline, including strikes in
energy-producing sectors. The lack of a satisfactory legal regime has
hindered foreign investment.
Decreased production and disruptions in the distribution system have caused
severe energy shortages in several regions of the new independent states.
Adequate supplies of energy are crucial to sustaining the democratic and
market economic reform movements in the new independent states.
Activities
The framework for the successful implementation of these actions must
include:
-- Full cooperation with authorities of the new independent states, both in
identifying and meeting urgent needs;
-- Involvement of the commercial sector to the fullest extent possible; and
-- Compatibility with the fundamental restructuring of the energy sector in
a market-oriented direction, in line with the commitments under the
European Energy Charter as agreed in December 1991 by 45 signatories.
The Energy Working Group is planning the following actions, which will have
short- and medium-term results:
1. Starting immediate consultations with the new independent states to
agree on priorities. Experts from industry will participate. Full use will be
made of experiences in the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern
Europe.
2. Assuring adequate and prompt fuel supplies for the transport of food and
medical assistance from ports of entry to points of consumption. NATO
could contribute to this effort.
3. Supporting the efforts of coal miners in the Donetsk, Ukraine, and
Kuznetsk, Russia, basins to improve productivity, ensure supplies for power
generation, increase health and safety conditions, and raise the quality of
life.
4. Seeking to increase the energy efficiency of heating districts in large
cities of the new independent states, with a particular emphasis on
assuring improvements in home heating and critical industries, such as food
processing.
5. Working with the new independent states to anticipate and respond to
fuel and electricity needs for agriculture and food processing for 1992
spring planting and fall harvest. In addition, developing a regional approach
to meet fuel problems in the fishing and fish-processing industries in the
Far East.
6. Beginning a dialogue with the energy-producing new independent states
to encourage adequate supply to areas with significant shortfalls in fuels,
such as Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
7. Promoting private industry efforts, with the assistance of international
financial institutions, to overhaul pipelines and gas compressor stations in
Russia, Ukraine, and Byelarus, with the objective of cutting transmission
losses. Immediately offering technical expertise in the management,
maintenance, and operation of pipelines under market conditions.
8. Working with private industry to provide spare parts and essential
equipment, management skills, and resources to rapidly restart production
in existing petroleum fields. Encouraging the new independent states to
open fields for the private sector. Also, providing assistance to improve
energy efficiency of existing refineries.
Next Steps
-- Working Group co-chairs will collect, assess, and distribute information
on existing bilateral programs.
-- Immediately following the consultative mission, the Working Group will
meet to evaluate results and finalize [a] plan of action, including
implementation mechanisms.
-- A briefing of the new independent states on the conference results will
be undertaken by the co-chairs in cooperation with the contact group in
Minsk next week.
Food Assistance
Nature of the Problem: Food shortages due to shortfalls in agricultural
production, distribution failures, and hoarding are causing hardship in the
new independent states--especially in large industrial cities and remote
areas. Vulnerable groups include the elderly, infants and children, the sick,
unemployed, and refugees.
Emergency humanitarian food aid is needed, as well as immediate technical
assistance programs to help reform the agricultural/food production and
distribution systems and improve prospects for next winter. Many countries
and the European Community have committed food aid, both in grants and
credits. While much of this has been delivered, assistance in these forms
will continue to be necessary.
There is an underlying need to help the new independent states to mobilize
and organize their own agricultural resources.
Plan of Action
The program of humanitarian food assistance and follow-on programs will
focus on three areas:
Deliver, Distribute, and Monitor Humanitarian Food Aid. Nearly $500 million
of food grants remain available for distribution. In partnership with the
new independent states, the aim is:
-- Over the next 3 months, to reduce hardship among vulnerable groups by
providing wheat, dairy products, baby food, cooking oil, meat, and other
foods, for example, to pensioners, schools, orphanages, and hospitals.
-- To develop techniques to make food grants available for sale in ways
which reinforce market structures and generate funds for social purposes.
-- So as to ensure efficient delivery, to monitor aid distribution to the
point of sale or use. Countries neighboring the new independent states
encourage the maximum use of their transport and storage facilities.
Assistance through Credit Facilities. About $5 billion in food credits
remains available to be drawn. The aim is:
-- To continue to use credits and credit guarantees to improve overall food
and feed supply situation in the new independent states.
-- To promote, where feasible, triangular trade transactions between the
new independent states and traditional trading partners--particularly those
in the process of economic transition.
Technical Assistance in the Food Sector. Technical assistance is needed to
promote the reforms which will make emergency assistance unnecessary in
the future. The priorities are:
-- Encouraging competition and improving productivity throughout the food
sector;
-- Improving processing, transport, distribution, and the operation of food
markets; and
-- Promoting better farming practices and more efficient storage.
An increasing number of countries, together with the EC and international
institutions, are engaged in technical assistance programs in the food
sector, covering policy design, pilot projects, model farms, farmer-to-
farmer initiatives, extension services, and establishing markets in major
cities.
Next Steps
From now on, the Working Group will:
-- Establish contacts with the new states;
-- Ensure implementation of the Plan of Action;
-- Build up links with the international institutions involved in assisting
the new states; and
-- Contribute to the preparation of the Lisbon Conference.
Medical Assistance
Nature of the Problem: Medical needs represent a serious short- and
medium-term problem for the new independent states. This results from:
-- High disease and death rates, particularly infectious diseases. Deaths
from influenza and pneumonia are up to 10 times higher than in the Western
world;
-- Shortages of critical medicines (including vaccines) and medical
supplies; and
-- A pharmaceutical industry unable to meet standards as well as produce
needed quantities.
Plan of Action
We propose a four-point program to meet this challenge:
Coordinated provision of medicines and basic medical supplies. The focus of
this effort will be on immediate delivery of antibiotics, vaccines, and
medical supplies to meet acute humanitarian needs.
Those countries who have already initiated deliveries will undertake to
intensify their efforts. Seek ways in which to utilize triangular trade
arrangements.
Encourage hospitals and health care institutions to participate in the
"Nations in Partnership" program. (i.e., linking international
hospitals/institutions in one-on-one relationships with
hospitals/institutions in the new independent states).
Our goal is to begin to increase such "Partnership Hospitals" throughout the
new independent states by the end of 1992.
Encourage private sector involvement in order to reestablish indigenous
pharmaceutical, medical supply, and health care services. Encourage private
sector pharmaceuticals and medical supply companies to conduct business
missions to the new independent states to identify basic equipment and
other manufacturing problems for immediate fixes and business joint
ventures.
Coordinated technical assistance programs in health care. At this point,
most governmental technical assistance programs should be directed at the
regulatory structure for health care, including pharmaceutical quality
control, hospital accreditation, approval of pharmaceuticals for public use,
health care financing, and systems for monitoring disease control.
Next Steps
-- Brief new independent states--part of a broader conference follow-up.
-- Follow-up on immediate needs for medicines/supplies, possibly leading
to further consultation with the new independent states. This could be
accomplished by sending a coordinated mission to the independent states,
composed of various countries and international organizations, for
development of programs and ongoing assessment of needs.
-- Within 2 months, the Working Group will meet to:
-- Review progress on immediate medical needs and emergency responses;
-- Refine logistics requirements and bottlenecks to be overcome;
-- Share experience on monitoring and agree on a clearing house
mechanism;
-- Review progress on the hospital partnerships idea; and
-- Review progress on private sector initiatives.
-- Encourage contingency planning on emergency needs. This may be done
under UN auspices, other disaster relief agencies, and in close consultation
with the food and shelter working groups.
Shelter Assistance
Nature of the Problem: The independent states are facing, and will continue
to face, long-standing problems in housing. These problems include an
enormous shortage of housing and significant inadequacies in existing
housing. The industry, in 1991, built roughly 1.2 million units; in 1992 it
may slump to half that.
These problems can be corrected at their root only through a fundamental
transformation of the economies of the independent states. In addition to
these, new housing problems were created by the rapid transformation
during the last months, especially concerning military officers and their
families.
These problems will only be corrected in the longer-term. However, in order
to ensure the stability necessary for continuing political and economic
reform, work should begin now to:
-- Alleviate the most critical and potentially destabilizing shortage of
housing;
-- Coordinate planning for immediate emergencies; and,
-- Initiate, through technical and other assistance, the longer-term process
of structural reform of the housing sector.
Plan of Action
In an effort to achieve these outcomes, the Shelter Working Group agrees on
the following plan of action:
-- To consult immediately with the independent states to define the most
urgent housing needs on which to concentrate common financial and
technical resources to support stability and reform.
-- To take into positive consideration the appointment at an early stage of
international resident advisors.
-- To involve multilateral donors to provide financial assistance,
especially for short-term needs.
-- To encourage nations or local authorities to take responsibility to
provide assistance to particular cities with the republics.
-- To develop a program of technical assistance to enhance productivity of
the housing sector.
-- To assist in developing contingency plans for possible external
immediate emergency assistance.
Next steps
Building on the experience obtained at the Washington conference, the
[Shelter Working] Group will organize itself to implement the program of
action under the following headings:
-- Operational priorities;
-- Technical assistance programs, including the reform of the housing
sector; and
-- Contingency planning for refugee emergencies.
The group will meet as soon as possible to take forward the work initiated
by the Conference and in preparation for the Lisbon Conference.
Technical Assistance
Nature of the Problem: Technical assistance will be required in the short
term to raise efficiency of the new independent states and avert severe
shortages of food, medicine, shelter, and energy.
Technical assistance is unique in that it is designed to help people learn to
help themselves. The primary purpose of technical assistance, however, is
to support and encourage sustained, comprehensive political and economic
reform. In the absence of technical assistance, the new independent states
lack the necessary institutions and training to sustain and, in some cases,
begin reform.
Effective provision of technical assistance will require identification of
assistance priorities, sharing of information among donors, and active on-
the-spot coordination without creating new bureaucratic structures. Active
exchange of information can enable donors to focus on their respective
areas of comparative advantage as assistance providers.
Plan of Action
Technical assistance will be designed to support and encourage the process
of political and economic reform, taking into account how the independent
states approach the reform process.
Technical assistance priorities were identified and elaborated in the action
plan. These include:
-- Support for creation and development of a democratic political system
and institution building;
-- Support for development of a free market economy through privatization
and development of small and medium enterprises, financial sectors,
commodity exchanges, communication, institution building in public and
private management, and social safety nets;
-- Support for conversion of human and industrial resources in the military
industrial complex to civilian purposes;
-- Improvements in food production and distribution, and transportation;
-- Promotion of energy efficiency, nuclear safety, and environmental
improvement; and,
-- Improvement of conditions for expanded trade and investment and
increased market access through integration of the new independent states
into the international trading system.
Some donor states--individually or jointly and in consultation with the new
independent states--may wish to identify demonstration projects which can
serve as examples of successful and replicable transformation. In order to
take full advantage of the experience of Central and Eastern Europe, we
envision triangular operations in the provision of technical assistance.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) can play
an important role as the information clearinghouse on technical assistance,
working with the EC and international organizations such as the United
Nations. Such a clearinghouse for information can mitigate duplication of
effort.
For purposes of compiling requests for assistance in-country, some donors
may choose to set up information networks. For example, the EC is
establishing business communications centers to serve this purpose, and
others may wish to take advantage of this or other comparable systems.
Every advantage should be taken to share the results of assessments already
made in the new independent states; where new assessments are required,
donors may consider undertaking joint missions without prejudicing
separate bilateral efforts.
Technical assistance should be used to build an indigenous capability to
effectively manage incoming assistance. The new independent states are
encouraged to appoint coordinators to work with governmental and non-
governmental donors, international financial institutions, and multilateral
organizations.
Next Steps
The co-chairs, as members of a contact group, will discuss the results of
the conference with the new independent states and obtain their reaction.
In the context of the preparations for the Lisbon Conference, the Working
Group agreed on the need for a follow-on meeting, in a month or two, to
exchange information on planning, implementation, and monitoring of
technical assistance programs. Through such early, expert-level
coordination, donor states can learn from each other and plan their
assistance efforts more effectively.
In advance of such a meeting, participants would provide information which
has become available with regard to their evolving technical assistance
programs. (###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: Support for Haiti
Einaudi
Source: Luigi R. Einaudi, US Permanent Representative to
the Organization of American States (OAS)
Description: Address before the OAS Special Session of the OAS
Permanent Council, Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 21 19921/21/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: Caribbean
Country: Haiti
Subject: Refugees, Development/Relief Aid, Trade/Economics,
Democratization
[TEXT]
We are at a critical moment in our efforts to help Haitians restore their
democratic constitutional order. Let me summarize what to me seem the
key points of the two excellent reports we have heard this morning.
First, Secretary General Joao Clemente Baena Soares has again made clear
the democratic principles that motivate our action: In the Western
Hemisphere today, coups are not an acceptable way of resolving political
differences. The Secretary General notes that the months since the
September 30 coup have brought little progress on the central issue that
unites the international community--and I say international community,
because it is useful to remember that the United Nations has endorsed the
leadership of the Organization of American States (OAS) in this matter--the
restoration of constitutional democracy and the return of Jean-Bertrand
Aristide to the presidency.
The Secretary General recommends--correctly, I believe--that the
ministers who set our original course should consider meeting again. I have
no instructions from my government to seek a ministerial before the current
negotiations are exhausted, but it also seems clear to us that the passage of
time suggests it might, indeed, be useful to bring together our decision-
making authorities, if only to be able to better induce progress and reward
it if it comes.
Being a seasoned diplomat committed to a solution in Haiti, the Secretary
General also stresses that he is willing to make whatever personal effort is
necessary in the meantime to advance our search for a just and lasting
solution. We welcome his leadership.
Augusto Ramirez Ocampo--who as the Secretary General's personal
representative has traveled with various of the distinguished members of
his OEA-DEMOC [OAS-Democracy--a joint venture between the OAS and
member states to promote democracy in and give humanitarian aid to Haiti]
mission to Caracas, Cartagena de Indias, and Washington as well as Port au
Prince in multiple efforts to facilitate a political solution--reports that he
believes the current negotiating track has not yet been exhausted.
Certainly, acceptance among the most varied of sectors of Rene Theodore as
a compromise choice for prime minister can only be seen as a sign of
progress. Indeed, the US Embassy in Haiti reports that despite many
differences--some of them still major--the desire to seek a dignified and
negotiated agreement with the international community is widespread. I
would like to comment, if I may, from two perspectives.
First, I had the privilege in a personal capacity to be an observer, invited by
President Aristide, at the meetings, January 7 and 8, in Caracas. The
agreement among the President of the Republic and the Presidents of the
legislative branch to submit the name of Rene Theodore to a vote for the
position of Prime Minister was, as has been noted earlier, an important
breakthrough. That Caracas meeting was a privilege to observe because,
without exception, those who participated demonstrated notable qualities
of mutual respect, flexibility, and discretion. One notable absence from the
meeting was the war of press releases, which has on other occasions both
typified and damaged the negotiations. As one deeply committed to
supporting any arrangement reached among Haitians to restore the
democratic order interrupted violently on September 30, I was genuinely
encouraged by the atmosphere in Caracas.
Second, let me say a word explicitly as the representative in this Council of
the United States. For my country, Haiti involves major human and material
interests as well as questions of principle. Concerned by the interruption of
democracy; the presence of major human rights and humanitarian issues;
problems of joblessness, trade, and displaced persons, the United States
seeks the return of President Aristide to Haiti in a manner compatible with
the Haitian constitution and as part of a durable and stable solution that
will enable Haitians to work with dignity and hope. We believe the objective
of the international community should be to provide constructive support
and guarantees for a democratic solution agreed to among Haitians. This
support must include the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the
Humanitarian Mission, and in addition, the new democracy supporting
measures that OEA-DEMOC will have to negotiate with the Haitian
authorities.
From these considerations, I suggest a few simple conclusions. One is
obvious but needs to be repeated because of the climate of suspicion and
doubt that has clouded most discussions of Haiti: The principles that have
galvanized our unprecedented solidarity against the interruption of Haitian
democracy must be applied with the most absolute respect for Haiti's
culture, people, and welfare. The "how" of the restoration of constitutional
democracy to Haiti is fundamentally a Haitian decision for Haitians to make.
Our goal can only be, as the ministerial resolutions make clear, to help
create the conditions in which that decision may be taken successfully.
My second conclusion is, in a sense, the obverse of the first: a political
settlement--whatever particular shape it takes in Haiti's particular
circumstances--will not conclude our common involvement in Haiti.
Rather, it will set the stage for us to help address long unmet needs of the
Haitian people.
Our ministers had the foresight to exempt humanitarian assistance from the
embargo which the United States fully supports and respects despite the
serious leaks that have taken place. The Secretary General's Humanitarian
Mission has made clear the increasing urgency of health and other concerns.
The increasing OAS commitment to Haiti has created a framework that has
enabled many countries, including my own, to understand the importance as
well as the urgency of Haiti's humanitarian and developmental needs. As
Ambassador [Deputy US Permanent Representative John F.] Maisto reported
in my absence on January 8, the US Agency for International Development
has already responded to the OAS Humanitarian Mission's report and begun
heightened food relief for Haiti's neediest. We will be pleased to contribute
to the OAS shipment of medicine and food that is being made possible by the
generosity of Chile.
But my real point is that we look forward to the day when the embargo will
be lifted, when Haitian and foreign businesses will be able to function in an
atmosphere of peace and stability, and when developmental as well as
humanitarian aid flows can resume. The sooner Haitians resolve their
political crisis, the sooner the international community will be able to
move to support this vision.
I am not talking about a return to the status quo ante. I am not talking about
a return to business as usual. I am talking about a better future for Haiti. It
is that vision that fortifies us in our present efforts amidst uncertainty.
My final point is this: We cannot and we will not be deterred from our
support for democracy in Haiti. This is a time for statesmanship. Coups
unfold in hours. Violence spends itself in hours. But it will take time to put
things right. Reconciliation takes time. Bridging deep social divisions takes
time. Building and rebuilding institutions takes time. Developing new and
positive relationships among civilian and military institutions takes time.
This is a time for the peacemakers to step forward in Haiti. Elected and
unelected leaders must talk, listen, and build bridges to those who have
opposed them, even at the risk of rebuke from their bases of support. Every
sector of Haitian society must join in dialogue. None can be excluded. The
Washington Post noted editorially January 19 that the progress made in
Central America toward ending violent conflicts came about not only
because of the end of the Cold War but also because of the stubborn
commitment of the United States to democracy.
You will find that the United States will stubbornly support the process of
reaching a settlement in Haiti. We are stubbornly engaged, stubborn in our
commitments to Haiti's struggle for democracy, stubborn in our solidarity
with the democracies of the OAS.
As Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, said in San Salvador last Friday,
the United States seeks "a hemisphere in which democracy is the only
legitimate form of government, the rule of law is respected, and human
rights are secure." (###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: One Year After the Gulf War
Bush
Source: President Bush
Description: Statement, Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 16 19921/16/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: MidEast/North Africa
Country: Iraq, Kuwait
Subject: Military Affairs
[TEXT]
One year ago tonight I spoke to the American people at the moment an
international coalition acting under UN authority went to war to end Saddam
Hussein's brutal occupation of Kuwait. We can all take pride in the results
of that effort--Kuwait is liberated and the legitimate government restored,
the fires set by Saddam's retreating army are extinguished, the flow of oil
from the Gulf is secure from political and economic blackmail, much of
Iraq's arsenal is destroyed, and what remains is now under international
supervision, and the United Nations has been greatly strengthened.
The determination and strength demonstrated by the United States and its
coalition partners has had lasting dividends throughout the region. A
critical region of the world vital to its economic well-being is secure.
Thanks in large part to our efforts, direct peace talks between Arabs and
Israelis are underway for the first time, multilateral negotiations on
regional arms control have begun, and America's hostages in Lebanon are
home.
The coalition fought a limited war for a limited but vitally important
purpose. It prevailed. Saddam's Iraq is weak and isolated, unable to impose
its extremist policies on the region or the peace process. Nevertheless, the
American people and I remain determined to keep the pressure on Saddam
until a new leadership comes to power in Iraq. As was the case from the
outset, our quarrel is not with the people of Iraq but with the dictator
whose misrule has caused terrible suffering throughout the Middle East. We
will maintain UN sanctions and keep Saddam's regime isolated, a pariah
among nations. We will work to ensure [that] adequate food and medicine
reach the Iraqi people under international supervision while denying Saddam
the means to rebuild his weapons of mass destruction.
We salute the efforts of thousands of brave Iraqis who are resisting
Saddam's rule both inside and outside of Iraq. The United States reiterates
its pledge to the Iraqi people and the Iraqi military that we stand ready to
work with a new regime. A new leadership in Baghdad that accepts the UN
resolutions and is ready to live at peace with its neighbors and its own
people will find a partner in the United States, one willing to seek to lift
economic sanctions and help restore Iraq to its rightful place in the family
of nations. (###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: Zaire Government Cancels National Conference
Boucher
Source: State Department Deputy Spokesman Richard
Boucher
Description: Statement, Washington, DC
Date: Jan, 21 19921/21/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: Subsaharan Africa
Country: Zaire
Subject: Regional/Civil Unrest, Democratization
[TEXT]
The United States Government has closely followed the establishment and
progress of the national conference of Zaire. In our contacts with Zairian
officials and in our public statements we have made it clear that we share
the widespread view that the national conference has become the best
means by which national reconciliation and a peaceful transition to
democracy can be achieved.
Until recently, we had been encouraged by the assurances given us by Zairian
officials at every level, including assurances directly from the President
and Prime Minister, that they were committed to the success of the national
conference. We do not see how the decision of Janu- ary 19 to suspend the
national conference can be reconciled with these assurances. The
Government's tactics, inter alia encouraging the curtailment of conference
funding, call into question the commitment of the Government to Zairian
democratization.
We believe that the vast majority of Zairians want the national conference
to resume its work without further interference and intimidation. We call
on the Government to reopen the national conference immediately. Its
suspension offers little prospect for national reconciliation and democracy.
(###)
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: UN Security Council Resolution Condemns Libyan
Terrorism
UN
Source: The United Nations
Description: Resolution 731, New York, New York
Date: Jan, 21 19921/21/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: MidEast/North Africa
Country: Libya
Subject: United Nations, Terrorism, Trade/Economics
[TEXT]
Security Council Resolution 731
January 21, 1992
The Security Council,
Deeply disturbed by the world-wide persistence of acts of international
terrorism in all its forms, including those in which States are directly or
indirectly involved, which endanger or take innocent lives, have a
deleterious effect on international relations and jeopardize the security of
States,
Deeply concerned by all illegal activities directed against international
civil aviation, and affirming the right of all States, in accordance with the
Charter of the United Nations and relevant principles of international law,
to protect their nationals from acts of international terrorism that
constitute threats to international peace and security,
Reaffirming its resolution 286 (1970) of 9 September 1970, in which it
called on States to take all possible legal steps to prevent any interference
with international civil air travel,
Reaffirming also its resolution 635 (1989) of 14 June 1989, in which it
condemned all acts of unlawful interference against the security of civil
aviation and called upon all States to cooperate in devising and
implementing measures to prevent all acts of terrorism, including those
involving explosives,
Recalling the statement made on 30 December 1988 by the President of the
Security Council on behalf of the members of the Council strongly
condemning the destruction of Pan Am flight 103 and calling on all States to
assist in the apprehension and prosecution of those responsible for this
criminal act,
Deeply concerned over the results of investigations, which implicate
officials of the Libyan Government and which are contained in Security
Council documents that include the requests addressed to the Libyan
authorities by France1, 2, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland2, 3, and the United States of America2, 4, 5 in connection with the
legal procedures related to the attacks carried out against Pan American
flight 103 and Union de tranports aerens [UTA] flight 772;
Determined to eliminate international terrorism,
1. Condemns the destruction of Pan American flight 103 and Union de
tranports aerens flight 772 and the resultant loss of hundreds of lives:
2. Strongly deplores the fact that the Libyan Government has not yet
responded effectively to the above requests to cooperate fully in
establishing responsibility for the terrorist acts referred to above against
Pan American flight 103 and Union de tranports aerens flight 772;
3. Urges the Libyan Government immediately to provide a full and effective
response to those requests so as to contribute to the elimination of
international terrorism;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to seek the cooperation of the Libyan
Government to provide a full and effective response to those requests;
5. Urges all States individually and collectively to encourage the Libyan
Government to respond fully and effectively to those requests;
6. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
VOTE: Unanimous (15-0).
1S/23306.
2S/23309.
3S/23307.
4S/23308.
5S/23317.
Dispatch, Vol 3, No 4, January 27, 1992
Title: US Position: UN Security Council Resolution
Condemns Libyan Terrorism
Pickering
Source: Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, US US Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, UN Security Council,
New York City
Description: New York, New York
Date: Jan, 21 19921/21/92
Category: Speeches, Testimony, Statements
Region: MidEast/North Africa
Country: Libya
Subject: United Nations, Terrorism, Trade/Economics
[TEXT]
In passing this resolution, the Council has again demonstrated the important
role it should play in this new and hopeful era of international relations. Its
responsibilities for international peace and security are paramount, and it
has shown again that it takes such responsibilities with the utmost
seriousness.
The Council has been confronted with the extraordinary situation of a state
and its officials which are implicated in two ghastly bombings of civilian
airliners. This is a situation for which standard procedures were clearly
inapplicable. The effects of such conduct on international peace and
security are clear and inescapable.
The Governments of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States have
presented this Council with the reports of investigations which implicate
officials of the Libyan Government in the bombings of Pan Am 103 over
Scotland and UTA 772 over Niger. Four hundred and forty-one completely
innocent people from 32 countries, including seven of the members from
this Council, were murdered in an act of blatant, cold-blooded terrorism.
The issue at hand is not some difference of opinion or approach which can be
mediated or negotiated; it is, as the Security Council has recognized,
conduct threatening to us all and directly a threat to international peace and
security. The mandate of the Security Council requires that the Council
squarely face its responsibilities in this case. It must not be distracted by
Libyan attempts to convert this issue of international peace and security
into one of bilateral differences.
The resolution just adopted responds to a special situation that has been
brought before this Council. It makes a straightforward request of Libya:
that it cooperate fully in turning over its officials who have been indicted
or implicated in these bombings and that it take concrete actions to conduct
itself as a law-abiding state. It also calls upon the Secretary General to
add his efforts to those of the many states encouraging Libya to comply
fully and effectively with this resolution. The resolution makes it clear
that what the Council is seeking is to ensure that those accused be tried
promptly in accordance with the tenets of international law. The resolution
provides that the people accused be simply and directly turned over to the
judicial authorities of the governments who are competent under
international law to try them.
Until now, Libya has refused to respond to these requests and has sought to
evade its responsibilities and to procrastinate. While Libyan efforts to
obscure the nature of the issue before the Council have included explicit
agreement that its nationals may be tried elsewhere, those efforts also
involve tortured attempts to identify or create venues that would reduce
and even negate the value of the evidence so painfully collected by long and
thorough investigations by the requesting states.
In passing this resolution, the Council has responded in a careful and
prudent manner to a unique situation involving clear implications of state-
sponsored terrorist attacks on civil aviation. The Council has clearly
reaffirmed the right of states, in accordance with the Charter, to protect
their citizens. The resolution makes clear that neither Libya nor any other
state can seek to hide support for international terrorism behind traditional
principles of international law and state practice. The Council was faced,
in this case, with clear implications of government involvement in
terrorism as well as the absence of an independent judiciary in the
implicated state. Faced with conduct of this nature, the Council had to act
to deal with threats to international peace and security stemming from
widescale terrorists' attacks, and it did so with firmness, dignity,
determination, and courage. The Council action, thus, sends the clearest
possible signal that the international community will not tolerate such
conduct.
We now hope that Libya will respond effectively and do so rapidly. The
voice of the international community, in this regard, is clear and
determined. The Council expects Libyan compliance with the resolution
which it has just passed. The enormity of the crimes committed and the
onslaught against international peace and security demand no less. The
Council will be watching carefully how Libya responds. The Council will
proceed in a step-by-step manner, I am sure, to maintain its commitment to
international peace and security. It will continue to assure that its voice
and its decisions do all that is possible to dissuade Libya, and any other
states that might be motivated in the future to act as Libya has, to cease
such actions now and in the future. If further action should be necessary,
and we hope it will not be, we are convinced that the Council is ready on a
continuing basis to face up to its full responsibilities. (###)