Report on Haiti.

Upon the interruption of the democratic process in Haiti the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Ambassador Joao Clemente Baena Soares, immediately convoked the Permanent Council of the Organization to set in motion the legal machinery established by the General Assembly. The Permanent Council's condemnation of the events in Haiti reflected the Hemisphere's response to the attempt to set back democracy in the region.

As provided in resolution 1080, the Council in turn called an ad hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to examine the facts and adopt appropriate decisions in a framework of international law.

At this meeting the Foreign Ministers adopted their resolution 1 of 1991 in "Support for the Democratic Government of Haiti." They reiterated the Permanent Council's condemnation, refused to recognize the de facto holders of power in Haiti, and recommended to the member States the application of diplomatic and economic measures designed to facilitate the return of the constitutional President to the full exercise of his functions and to isolate those who sought to usurp them.

The ad hoc meeting appointed a commission consisting of the Secretary General of the OAS and the Foreign Ministers of eight member States to go to Haiti to inform those in power that the States of the Hemisphere repudiated the interruption of the constitutional order and to report on the measures adopted by the meeting.

The commission travelled twice to Haiti between October 4 and 7 to speak to people in the political, military, business and social sectors of the country, and met again with President Aristide in Washington.

Having left open the possibility of additional measures, contingent on further developments, the Foreign Ministers resumed their meeting at OAS headquarters on October 8 to receive and consider the commission's report. That day they also reviewed a letter from the President of Haiti to the Secretary General of the OAS asking him to organize a civilian mission to go to Haiti with the goal of supporting and strengthening the country's democratic institutions.

The ad hoc meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs approved resolution 2 of 1991 on "Support for Democracy in Haiti," in three parts: first, to reiterate resolution 1 of the meeting, particularly in regard to the restoration of President Aristide to the exercise of his...