21810: Esser: Argentina backs US by ordering 500 troops to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Reuters Alert Net
http://www.alertnet.org

May 10, 2004

Argentina backs US by ordering 500 troops to Haiti


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, May 10 (Reuters) - Argentine President
Nestor Kirchner has authorized sending some 500 soldiers to Haiti as
part of a new U.N. peacekeeping mission in an important show of
support for Washington.

"There's no doubt that this is very important help for the United
States ... For Washington it's important," Defense Minister Jose
Pampuro told local radio on Monday.

The United Nations authorized a force of up to 6,700 U.N. soldiers to
restore order to chaotic Haiti after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
fled an armed revolt two months ago under pressure from the
international community.

Washington wants the U.N. force to take over the task of restoring
stability from a multinational force on June 1.

Kirchner, a leftist whose speeches often rail against foreign
investors, has annoyed many in Washington since he came to power a
year ago by refusing to condemn Cuba over rights abuses and failing
to support the U.S.-led attack on Iraq.

The Haiti mission would be Argentina's first deployment of troops to
a new overseas operation since Kirschner came to power.

The shift in diplomatic strategy comes as Kirchner looks for
Washington's support in tough talks with international creditors over
repaying $88 billion in defaulted debt as well as in securing vital
aid from the International Monetary Fund.

Argentina's Congress must still approve the troops for Haiti. The
legislature effectively blocked the United States from sending
soldiers to Argentina on military maneuvers last year.

Kirchner's Peronist party dominates Congress but political analysts
say he may have trouble convincing some left-leaning party members to
vote for the Haiti mission.

Argentina was one of Washington's closest allies in the 1990s, when
then-President Carlos Menem sent soldiers to the first Gulf war.
.