22982: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Cruise (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 15 (AP) -- The American organizers of a cruise to
mark Haiti's 200th independence anniversary have canceled most of its
itinerary inside the country here, citing concerns about the legitimacy of
the government that replaced ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   Actor Danny Glover, one of the organizers of the seven-day cruise,
boycotted the trip altogether.
   "Due to the increasingly critical political situation in Haiti, which
resulted in a loss of life, oppression and incarceration of thousands of
Haitians, I have canceled my participation," Glover told reporters in
Florida before the cruise set sail Saturday.
   The cruise, billed as "Cruising Into History," still was due to arrive
in Haiti on Wednesday with about 500 Americans on board, but the trip has
been confined to an isolated strip of beach after opposition from groups
opposed to the interim government.
   Organizer Ron Daniels, of the nonprofit Haiti Support Project, announced
the cancellations in a statement Wednesday, saying that otherwise it "could
be construed as endorsing or legitimizing the U.S.-installed government."
   Aristide accuses the United States of forcing him from office -- a
charge Washington denies. A U.S.-supplied jet flew Aristide from Haiti on
Feb. 29 as rebels advanced on Port-au-Prince. The 15-member Caribbean
Community still refuses to recognize Haiti's new government.
   The passengers now plan to stay on the northern beach of Labadee because
doing so "does not require any logistical support, security, assistance or
participation from this regime," Daniels said.
   The Caribbean Community has called for an investigation, and the
Organization of American States agreed to look into the circumstances of
Aristide's departure. Aristide is in temporary exile in South Africa.
   Over the past two months, U.S.-based groups loyal to Aristide's Lavalas
Family party condemned the cruise's plans in a letter-writing campaign.
   Meanwhile, hundreds of Haitian tour guides, artisans and others spent
months preparing, said Jean Lionel Pressoir, head of the Haitian Solidarity
Development Organization, which aims to develop tourism in Haiti. He said
he worked with about 2,000 Haitians to plan the visit.
   "The committees up north are very, very disturbed about this," Pressoir
said. "The owners of 200 horses went out and bought saddles, and some
people made replicas of the Citadel for the day. Now how are they going to
sell those replicas?"
   The Citadel, a fortress in northern Haiti, was one of the original tour
stops, complete with a festival and horses to transport visitors.
   Other canceled tours would have gone to a Port-au-Prince museum, the
northern city of Cap-Haitien and a Voodoo temple.
   Organizers canceled visits to about 10 sites in Haiti where preparations
for festivals and performances began two years ago. Haiti marked its 200th
anniversary of independence from France on Jan. 1.