"What Is Called Democracy"

The scraps of paper came in pink, red, green, blue and yellow. But they all said the same thing: "Citizen Dr. Franc,ois Duvalier, President of the Republic, will exercise for life his high functions according to Article 92 of the present constitution. Does this conform to your wishes? And do you ratify it?" At the bottom, in big black letters, was the word OUT.

In Haiti last week Duvalier was holding a "popular referendum" before he assumed office for life. It was only proper, said "Papa Doc," because "we have what is called a democracy." But in the dank, dark Caribbean nation, where almost 90% of the 4,500,000 population could not read the ballot, even Lou Harris could have predicted the outcome. Eight hours before the polls closed, the little doctor-turned-dictator appeared on the balcony of the presidential palace and graciously conceded victory. "Duvalier has won the battle," he told the obedient crowd. "He is already elected. I accept no one else in front of myself."

There is still a smattering of opposition to Duvalier in Haiti. Once in a while someone scratches "Caca Doc" (a Creole obscenity) instead of Papa Doc on the wall, and in a Port-au-Prince bar last week a sodden upper-class mulatto suddenly raised his voice: "How long must we stand here and suffer and be killed?" But most Haitians have resigned themselves to a numbing life under Duvalier. The dictator's 5,000-man Tonton Macoute roams the country ferreting out opposition and collecting "donations" from terrified businessmen. Even Duvalier's own henchmen live in mortal fear. Using Haiti's pervasive voodoo mysticism, Duvalier has set himself up as the pseudo religion's top practitioner, and fearsome tales that he performs ghoulish rites on severed vital organs of his enemies flutter like bats through Port-au-Prince.

The U.S. has tried everything short of intervention to bring about a change in Haiti. It has cut off all aid, pulled out its ambassador, even sent a Navy task force to steam around outside the three-mile limit for a few weeks. But Duvalier remained unmoved, and in the meantime Haiti's economy went from bad to worse. On paper, per capita income is $70 a year, lowest in the hemisphere; the real figure may be as low as $15. Now, to alleviate at least a little of the misery, the dollars are flowing again: $2,360,000 in Inter-American Development Bank funds for a drinking-water project, frequent liberty visits by U.S. Navy vessels. Ambassador Benson E. L. Timmons III, 48, mindful that a dozen embassy officials have been declared personae non gratae in the past 6 1/2 years, is restricting his activities merely to "what is proper."

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