The Bush administration said Tuesday that $18 million in food assistance is being provided to Haiti and it called on Congress to approve a bill that includes an additional $13 million for that country. State Department deputy spokesman Richard Boucher expressed support for the efforts of provisioal President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot to move Haiti toward free and fair elections later this year. The $13 million aid package includes $10 million for short-term needs such as fuel and food and $3 million to enable international observers to monitor the elections and to provide other types of electoral support. ``We encourage and will support her (Mrs. Trouillot's) efforts to overcome the serious obstacles she confronts in bringing genuine democratic reforms and a greater respect for human rights to Haiti,'' Boucher said. The $13 million assistance package is part of a broader aid bill that also includes help for Panama and Nicaragua. President Bush has made numerous appeals to Congress for approval of the legislation. In an interview published in Tuesday's editions of the New York Times, Mrs. Trouillot, who served previously on Haiti's Supreme Court, said she inherited a bankrupt country two months ago. ``I was very surprised to see all of the coffers empty,'' she was quoted as saying. ``Economically, the country is paralyzed. The state can't honor its debts or pay many of its employees.'' The final decision on the food aid was made on Monday. Haiti will receive $6 million of the $18 million over the near term and the remaining $12 will be delivered starting Oct. 1, Boucher said. Haiti has drifted from one political crisis to another since the ouster of President Jean-Claude Duvalier more than four years ago. Mrs. Troiullot, who assumed her duties in mid-March after the ouster of former President Prosper Avril, is Haiti's fifth president since early 1986. Mrs. Trouillot has made clear her intention not to serve as president beyond September, a deadline that some regard as unrealistic in terms of turning over power to an elected successor. For much of the past 2{ years, the United States has not provided government-to-government aid to Haiti but has delivered substantial aid through private voluntary organizations. This has been a reflection of U.S. dissatisfaction with the dictatorial methods of the presidents who preceded Mrs. Trouillot. The total being funneled through voluntary groups this year is $41.4 million, Boucher said.
