ACCESSION NUMBER:353105 FILE ID:POL503 DATE:07/15/94 TITLE:STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, FRIDAY, JULY 15 (07/15/94) TEXT:*94071503.POL STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, FRIDAY, JULY 15 (Haiti, Colombia) (630) There was no State Department news briefing. However, acting spokesman David Johnson informally discussed the following topics with reporters: MORE HAITIAN BOAT PEOPLE PICKED UP BY U.S. COAST GUARD The acting spokesman said he was not in a position to elaborate on Secretary of State Christopher's remarks, made earlier in the day, that the United States is continuing to consult with hemispheric nations about the makeup of a multinational force for Haiti once its de facto military leadership departs. The consultations the United States has had with countries in the region and 1lsewhere have all been on the basis of a voluntary departure of Haiti's military strongman General Raoul Cedras and his colleagues, Johnson said. "We've been talking to about a dozen countries," he said. While reiterating President Clinton's position that "other options are not ruled out," Johnson stressed that "the premise" of the continuing consultations is "a voluntary departure" of Cedras. Haitians continue to flee their island nation, although in smaller numbers than recent days. Johnson said the U.S. Coast Guard picked up 78 Haitians from four boats on July 14, bringing to 20,430 the number of boat people picked up since mid-June. Seventy-eight is the smallest number of boat people picked up on a single day since June 20. "It's too early to speculate on whether the trend will continue," Johnson said. "We do know that the weather has been bad with high seas off Haiti. This has had an effect on the number of departures. We cannot discount the possibility of an increased outflow." At present, there are some 16,300 Haitians at the Guantanamo processing facility, the acting spokesman said. Approximately 9,600 are awaiting processing for either voluntary repatriation or temporary protection. Exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was to begin broadcasting to the Haitian people late July 15 with U.S. government assistance under a program called Radio Democracy. The program will be transmitted from facilities aboard Department of Defense aircraft which will beam both AM and FM radio signals to all of Haiti. Aristide has described Radio Democracy as a joint action by the Haitian and U.S. governments to promote their desire to see democracy restored in Haiti. Initial broadcasts will be tapes of Aristide. "He will bring a message of reconciliation, the restoration of democracy, and reassurances of personal safety to all sectors of Haitian society," Johnson said. U.S. HOPES FOR STRONG COLOMBIAN ANTI-NARCOTICS EFFORT Johnson noted that the United States, in recent months, has had several issues under discussion with Colombia, including radar intelligence-sharing and the reports that the campaign of President-elect Ernesto Samper accepted contributions from drug traffickers. "Concerning radar intelligence-sharing, the president three weeks ago sent Congress proposed legislation that would permit us to resume intelligence-sharing with Colombia and Peru," the acting spokesman said. "The Senate has already passed the bill. We hope the House will act with similar dispatch." Meanwhile, he said, the United States is working with Colombia and Peru to reach an interim agreement that would address the concerns posed by domestic and international law and permit the United States to resume counter-narcotics cooperation with the two countries even while the legislation is pending. "With respect to President-elect Samper, I would say that at this point, decisive action by Colombia on the counter-narcotics front is the key to our relationship with the forthcoming Samper administration," the acting spokesman declared. "We hope that he will continue Colombia's long history of counter-narcotics cooperation with the United States and become a full partner in the international effort against the illegal drug trade and the Colombian cartels that dominate it," Johnson said. NNNN .