22038: (Chamberlain) US-Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   WASHINGTON, May 24 (AP) -- The United States is committing an additional
$60 million in aid to Haiti, bringing the total for the year to $160
million, the State Department said Monday.
   The additional money will be used to send advisers to Haiti's government
ministries, train the Haitian national police and help cover a budget gap
that Haiti's interim government inherited.
   The funding will also support electricity generation, jobs programs,
humanitarian assistance and economic development.
   Early this month, the administration announced a $40 million aid
donation to Haiti.
   State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the administration hopes
other countries will contribute to Haiti's development at a donors
conference this summer in Ottawa.
   Former President Jean Bertrand Aristide resigned Feb. 29 amid a popular
uprising. The United States encouraged his departure and has been
supporting the interim government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. The
15-nation Caribbean Community has refused to recognize Latortue's
government and has asked the Organization of American States to investigate
Aristide's departure.
   Under Aristide, U.S. support for Haiti was limited to $55 million in
humanitarian aid distributed through private charitable organizations.
   The United States, France, Canada and Chile have sent about 3,600 troops
to Haiti to ensure stability until a U.N. peacekeeping force assumes duties
there next month.