Haiti Deja Vu, All Over Again

By Jesse Birnbaum

It was too much to expect that a hardscrabble little country like Haiti, for | so long devastated by tyrants, disease and poverty, could achieve democracy in any reasonable time. Yet that was the hope 16 months ago, when Lieut. General Prosper Avril, 52, ousted dictator Henri Namphy and swiftly pledged to step aside after holding elections. That promise, Avril declared, was "irreversible."

So much for hope, so much for promises. Last week Haiti lay in the grip of "a state of siege" declared by Avril's government and launched by his 1,200-man Presidential Guard. Citing "an increase of violence," the regime claimed that the crackdown was necessary to "protect the democratic accomplishments against terrorism." In dubious pursuit of that goal, Avril's police and some members of his army embarked upon a frightening expedition, beating up critics of the regime, silencing the media and sweeping up political opponents -- jailing some, exiling others.

Dr. Louis Roy, 74, who helped draft the popular 1987 constitution, was arrested, punched and, he reported later, threatened by a policeman who "said he would cut out my liver." Socialist party leader Serge Gilles was stomped on and hauled to the palace, where he was beaten again, then released; he has since gone into hiding. By week's end as many as 80 people had been arrested and five deported.

In Washington, Francois Benoit, Haiti's Ambassador to the U.S., resigned in protest. In Port-au-Prince, Alvin P. Adams, the U.S. Ambassador, visited Avril to express "outrage," terming Avril's actions "indefensible." French President Francois Mitterrand was reported to have telephoned a tough rebuke to Avril, and later Paris announced that it was suspending aid to Haiti because of the crackdown. The U.S. and the World Bank may reassess plans for financial aid to the country.

Port-au-Prince, meanwhile, was stretched tight with tension last week. During one rumor-filled afternoon, the entire city closed down. Some Haitians wondered whether Avril was trying to pre-empt a revolution in the Palace Guard. Others were certain that Avril never intended to relinquish the presidency in the first place, and was consolidating his power for a long rule. But Avril's grip over his country is not as strong as that of Haiti's greatest dictator, Papa Doc Duvalier, and by week's end the President, showing signs of succumbing to diplomatic and internal pressure, renewed his promise to hold elections. Given the history of democracy in Haiti, such promises are hard to keep and harder still to believe.

With reporting by Bernard Diederich/Port-au-Prince