Haiti: U.S. Not Interested in Resuming Aid, Despite Death of Col. Jean-Claude Paul John Neagle

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11-8-1988 Haiti: U.S. Not Interested In Resuming Aid, Despite Death Of Col. Jean-claude Paul John Neagle

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Recommended Citation Neagle, John. "Haiti: U.S. Not Interested In Resuming Aid, Despite Death Of Col. Jean-claude Paul." (1988). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/notisur/2429

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiSur by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 074015 ISSN: 1060-4189 Haiti: U.S. Not Interested In Resuming Aid, Despite Death Of Col. Jean-claude Paul by John Neagle Category/Department: General Published: Tuesday, November 8, 1988

On Nov. 7, State Department spokesperson Charles Redman said the US was not prepared to resume some $70 million in aid to Haiti, despite the death of Col. Jean-Claude Paul. Redman said, "Colonel Paul had been part of the problem but not the entire problem. There were a number of things that we were concerned about in the context of Haitian development we still have those concerns." Paul, who had been indicted in the US on cocaine trafficking charges in March, died Nov. 6 at his home in Port-au-Prince. According to statements by a police spokesperson on Nov. 7, Paul, 49, was seized by violent convulsions after eating soup. On Nov. 6, Radio Haiti-Inter reported that Paul had died of a heart attack. On the following day, the station said he had been seen earlier Sunday in good health, and that the police considered the death suspicious. Haiti's military leader, Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril, dismissed Paul on Sept. 30 in a purge of commanders who had served under Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy. Avril replaced Namphy as president in a Sept. 17 coup led by noncommissioned officers, demanding democratic reforms and an end to state-sponsored violence. Paul had commanded the 700-man Dessalines Barracks, linked to the Tontons Macoute, the private army of the Duvalier dictatorship. After Jean-Claude Duvalier fled to France in 1986, the Barracks absorbed many former Tontons Macoute as special agents. An unnamed opposition leader cited by AP said Paul's death meant "one less enemy" for Haiti. (Basic data from Reuters, AP, 11/07/88)

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