CRISIS IN THE CARIBBEAN : L.A. Area Haitians React With Hope and Suspicion

Haitians in the Los Angeles area reacted with hope and suspicion Sunday night to the news that the military leadership in their homeland would be leaving soon, making way for the return of the nation’s first democratically elected leader.

“Is it a time for celebration? I don’t think so,” said Gilbert Perpignand, president of the Crenshaw-based Haitian Community Refuge Center.

Perpignand estimated that most members of Los Angeles’ small Haitian community probably share his suspicion that the wily military regime will try to prolong its stay in power beyond the Oct. 15 deadline for departure.

“I’m not satisfied yet,” said Frantz Beliard, a local Haitian political refugee.

“This settlement reminds me of the Governors Island accord and it was not respected by the generals,” he said, referring to Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras’ agreement last year to hand over power to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Cedras, the troubled island nation’s military leader, subsequently refused to abide by the terms of that U.S.-brokered pact.

Beliard, 33, a former Haitian journalist now living in Culver City, said the time for celebration won’t arrive until the military regime’s leaders leave the country and Aristide is restored to power. After attending a conference in Miami in January, where he spoke hopefully of Aristide’s return, Beliard obtained political asylum in the United States.

Other Haitian community members who gathered Sunday night at Perpignand’s office to discuss the latest developments also expressed reservations about relying on the good faith of the generals.

“Three out of four people from our country are suspicious of this accord,” Perpignand said. “But we are hopeful. I am happy there will be no military intervention, because it would have caused many casualties among the innocent.”