The U.S. ambassador to Haiti warns of a future even more bleak than Haiti's tortured past if the government there fails to enact decisive reforms.

BY PAISLEY DODDS
Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Warning of a somber future for Haiti unless President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government makes reforms, the U.S. ambassador said in an interview that the world's oldest black republic is at a crossroads.

Since Aristide's party swept flawed legislative elections in 2000, U.S.-Haitian relations have soured as demonstrations against the government increase and poverty among the eight million people deepens.

U.S. officials say elections are the only way out.

''If Haiti falls into its historical past of authoritarian government, misrule and abuse of human rights, its future will be as somber as its past,'' U.S. Ambassador James Foley said Thursday.

Opposition groups have refused to participate in legislative elections proposed for this year unless Aristide resigns and the government provides a secure environment.

An opposition boycott would raise questions about the legitimacy of any elected Parliament. ''To hold free and democratic elections is a constitutional obligation. We want to hold them but we can't hold them alone,'' said Mario Dupuy, a Haitian government spokesman.

The two-year standoff has paralyzed the Caribbean country where most people are jobless, hungry and economic and social activities are hampered by a crumbling infrastructure of shattered roads and sketchy telephone service. Consequently, few investors come to Haiti.

The government says it needs funds to restore confidence. Donors, meanwhile, say confidence must be restored before money begins flowing.

Either way, patience is waning at home and abroad as Aristide struggles to rebuild the country.

''In our view, what is essential is that there be a government that is acting responsibly within the framework of the rule of law, that there be respect for human rights and that the government be acting as a credible partner with the international community,'' Foley said.

The U.S. Embassy would not comment on a report by independent Radio Kiskeya that the United States has canceled the U.S. tourist visa of Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert. Privert has denied allegations by former Aristide partisans that he organized lethal gang attacks on Aristide enforcers and grass-roots leaders who have become an embarrassment to the government.

The United States has canceled the visas of more than a dozen government officials this year, in some cases because the officials are suspected of having links to narcotics trafficking.