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The Bush administration has blocked efforts by France to build an international coalition to intervene in Haiti before civil chaos completely engulfs the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The U.N. Security Council on Feb. 19 deferred to the U.S. view that any international diplomatic outreach to Haiti must be done through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organization of American States (OAS), and that no aid will be forthcoming until the violence stops in Haiti.
Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, also said Feb. 19 that the EU would not support any military or peacekeeping mission to Haiti for now.
Instead, on Feb. 21 a multilateral delegation representing CARICOM, the United States, France and Canada will arrive in Port-au-Prince to pressure President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into negotiating a political compromise with his opponents that reportedly would involve holding new national elections for both the parliament and presidency. However, Aristide already has rebuffed U.S. State Department suggestions that he should end his term early so new elections can be held.
The violence likely will escalate in Haiti over the weekend, since Haiti's police largely have abandoned the embattled Aristide. Without the loyalty of his 5,000-member national police force, Aristide's only hopes for remaining in power now are his armed civilian militias and his impoverished supporters in Port-au-Prince, where more than half the country's population lives -- mainly in congested slums.
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