Crisis in Haiti

...For although Haiti in the last three months has not quite been a "Caribbean Budapest...

...His last New Leader article was "Aggression by Economic Planning,*1 an analysis of the Soviet Union's Five-Year Plan for 1956-60 (in our issue of March 26, 1...

...It is difficult to tell what is fact about Fignole and what is simply telejol...

...his own estimate was a maximum of $2 million...

...The present ferment certainly goes far beyond the question of the next President...

...Duvalier makes honesty in government one of his chief planks...

...These troubled events led to demands by Dejoie and Duvalier that Pierre-Louis resign...

...Thus the Vice President of the Bank of Haiti complained to me about a New York Times report that former President Paul E. Magloiro, ousted in December, had left the bank sonic $30 million in the hole...

...Medical and law students demonstrated in front of the National Palace and the British Legation demanding that Magloire be expelled from Jamaica...

...Duvalier and the other five candidates for the Presidency opposed this...

...Dejoie favored the next senior Supreme Court justice, generally considered a "Dejoie man...

...At the beginning of January, customs employes who had not been provided with overtime work went on strike, demanding the same overtime as more favored employes...

...Despite the modern means of communication, the chief medium of information—and especially of misinformation—is "telejol," the grapevine: "So and so has sold out...

...Faculty members in the medical and law schools walked out in protest against demands from their students for postponement of examinations...

...Intellectuals, particularly writers, are elated at the current state of total civil liberty...

...When the campaign began with Justice Pierre-Louis as Provisional President, the ferment which had ousted Magloire continued...

...He says he will induce Haitian sugar-field workers to stay home, instead of migrating each year to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, where they are said to cut most of the cane crop...

...Inherent in this is the possibility of class tensions taking racial form...

...The peasant girl with her immense market basket perched on her head walks jauntily with a gleam in her eye...

...At the end of January, employes of the National Bank struck in protest against the dismissal of 12 fellow-employes...

...It is obvious that he is running his campaign on a shoe-string, and it also seems clear that he has a substantial following among the lower classes in Port au Prince...

...People smile...

...Parties will probably emerge if the present freedom continues, but Haiti seems more likely to have many small parties than two or three large and viable ones...

...When he tried to remain in office, a general strike broke out in Port au Prince...

...Subsequently, by using its influence with the new President on behalf of democratic institutions and by actively aiding him in the economic sphere, the U.S...

...In any case, Provisional President Sylvain, whom the legislators en-j oined from succeeding himself, faces difficult times before the election...

...would recognize a regime in which he kept power unconstitutionally...

...But by firmly throwing its weight behind the holding of a free and democratic election in April, the U.S...

...He proposes to expand the school system and to have a single Creole alphabet and system of writing adopted in order to attack illiteracy...

...It is the land where the famous Toussaint L'Ouverture led revolution against Napoleonic France in 1801...

...Sincc his return to the United Slates, he has written for the New York Times Magazine, the New Republic and other journals...

...In 1843, when the Dominican Republic was established, Hispaniola became tile only island in the world with two separate nations on it...

...But Jumelle behaved cleverly in the recent crisis and should not be underrated...

...Jumelle claims he is the only candidate with an effective organization, and he is also said to have strong support in the Army...

...Magloire could not break it, and on December 13 was invited to leave the country...

...influence in Haiti is limited, of course, and can only be used with caution if it is to have significant results...

...He says that this and other feasible measures can boost Haiti's sugar output to a half-million tons a year— many times its present level...

...he couldn't come out for two days...

...administrators stayed until 1941...

...Voting becomes a popularity contest rather than a choice between programs, and the President, when elected, lacks the organizational means of putting his plans through...

...Dr...

...Duvalier is often depicted as the heir of the ideals of President Dumarsais Estime (194650), who stressed education and social assistance for workers...

...Magloire had been relatively "democratic" by comparison with his island neighbor, the Dominican Republic's General Trujillo, but he had jailed or banished his most outspoken opponents and had run the country largely for the benefit of his family and cronies...

...His enemies charge that Jumelle himself was implicated in Magloire's graft and that he hopes to become another Magloire...

...can encourage a development which will mean much to Haiti —and perhaps to other countries as well...

...will be doing much to assure such an election...

...Davis declined to promise Magloire in advance that the U.S...

...Dejoie promises that he will cut Government spending by 25 per cent, though he does not say where...

...This sentiment could easily lead to the emergence of a new "strong man" to take Magloire's place and preserve public order—at the cost of political and cultural freedom...

...New newspapers in French, the language of the literate minority, have sprung up to present the partisan views of factions and candidates...

...A A tourist wonderland fabled in drama, opera and dance, Haiti is the only Negro republic in the Western Hemisphere...

...They hope against hope that it can be preserved so they will have creative freedom in the future— not just for the sake of their art but so that Haiti's urgent problems can be discussed in a free atmosphere...

...With such serious problems, one might think that Haiti is a land deep in gloom...

...Haitians are acutely conscious of this, but many of them wonder if the State Department really does prefer democracy to dictatorship in Latin America...

...Jumelle radiates optimism, and denies that Haiti's present economic situation is as disastrous in the wake of Magloire as his opponents claim...

...the latter had demanded the ouster of bank officials who, they said, were involved in Magloire's graft...

...Joseph Nemours Pierre-Louis...

...They backed their demand with a call for a general strike, which brought about Pierre-Louis's resignation on February 3. For four days, Haiti had no President at all...

...General Paul Magloire became President in 1950, and his attempt to prolong his tenure led to the crisis Mr...

...Haiti has special possibilities...

...The vast bulk of Haitians are illiterate peasants, who live on small plots outside of any organized communities...

...By efficiency and integrity in government, he hopes to attract domestic and foreign capital for industry, agriculture and tourism, and to expedite larger U. S. aid...

...Political organization is only the smallest part of Haiti's problem...

...Whitney describes here...

...The Haitian sense of humor is infectious and all-pervasive...

...Dejoie long played a leading role in Magloire's Senate, though he was jailed in the last days of the old government...

...Under the Constitution...

...Jumelle says he will cut Government spending, launch a "crash" program to liquidate adult and child illiteracy, and use credit to expand industrial and agricultural production...

...He is the only mulatto among the four front-runners, which may work against him, for he is considered the candidate of the light-skinned social aristocracy...

...Nevertheless, the rate of increase in population is rapid...

...The United States can do much to help Haiti...

...Professor Daniel Fignole, who styles himself a "civilizer," represents a radical approach which has aroused much fear among Haiti's upper and middle classes...

...So and so wants to get rich as President...

...it has certainly been part of the recent world trend against dictatorship, of which the Hungarian Revolution and the overthrow of Peron in Argentina are just two aspects...

...Dejoie proposes to raise palm oil on a large scale in Southern Haiti and establish processing industries to provide all Haiti's needs in vegetable oils, which are now imported...

...Agricultural productivity is low, and subsistence farming limits Haiti's exports...

...The U.S...

...With the support of the Port au Prince crowds, guided to some extent by Duvalier and Fignole, the general strike was ended...

...Revolution and counter-revolution mingled with corruption and disease to produce political instability, until President Woodrow Wilson sent United Slates Marines to the country during World War I. They did not leave until President Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated the "'Good Neighbor Policy" two decades later...

...Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, assumed the Presidency...

...Dejoie and Duvalier, who for different reasons had agreed on ousting Pierre-Louis, fell out on the question of his successor...

...Dejoie says he will take Haiti out of the International Sugar Agreement in order to market this amount...

...U.S...

...He promises to stress agricultural development by encouraging both individual farmers and farm cooperatives...

...Clement Jumelle, a professional economist and statistician who once studied in the United States, was considered Magloire's heir-apparent (he was his Finance Minister) until he broke with him...

...About a quarter of the children between 5 and 14 years of age are enrolled in some type of school, but literacy in the Republic as a whole runs about 10 or 15 per cent...

...A Presidential campaign is on full blast...

...Taken together with the high density of population, the mountainous nature of much of the land, and the erosion which has been going on for decades, the population increase keeps living standards pinned to the poverty level...

...A former Finance Minister under Magloire, not currently friendly to the ex-President, denied reports that the erstwhile strong-man had carried off $12 to $30 million in loot to Jamaica...

...The birth rate is about 42 per thousand, while the death rate is estimated at 30—four times higher than the Dominican Republic and Cuba...

...Jumelle and Duvalier both promise to transform their followings into formal parties, while a Port au Prince dentist named Rigaud is attempting to organize a "Haitian Democratic Alliance...

...he might be belter described as a politician in business, for lie is no newcomer to the political game...

...approval...

...Partly because of the warm climate perhaps, nothing could be farther from the truth...

...He is often described as a "rabble rouser" and accused of inciting hatred among the darker-skinned Haitians for the whites and mulattos, and for the wealthy in general...

...I tried to see him repeatedly, but he was continually out of town touring the provinces...

...The four leading contenders are all men of great political ambition: • Senator Louis Dejoie likes to depict himself as a businessman in politics...

...Embassy, then as AP correspondent...

...The beginnings are already present—in art, in literature, in music...

...Many members of these classes come from the French-speaking "elite," which is of mixed race and thoroughly cosmopolitan in outlook...

...The heart of his campaign is a promise to improve the living standards of the poor...

...So and so had to spend the night in jail for his own protection from the crowd...

...Occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola, the Republic has both an area and a population (3.5 million) about twice that of Connecticut...

...Duvalier, generally regarded as honest and sincere and respected for his ascetic style of living, has worked closely for years with U. S.-assisted health and economic aid programs...

...The present crisis in Haiti began when General Magloire, President for six years and a power behind the throne before that, attempted to prolong his term unconstitutionally...

...Currently the storm center is Jumelle...

...he's bankrupt now...

...Democratic institutions survived the war, but a three-man military junta reigned during part of 1946...

...Perhaps its best hope lies in the development of die entire Caribbean as a playground: North American money could pour into Haiti from tourists first, and then spread out to finance all kinds of economic development...

...A foreign-news analyst for the Associated Press, he served in Moscow from 1944 through July 1953— first with the U.S...

...race feeling thus far has not existed apart from economic and social grievances...

...He'll throw his support at the last minute and get a fat job in the new government...

...Meanwhile, seven candidates entered their names in the race to select a new chief executive, with an election expected in April...

...it sometimes manages to sneak into foreign news reports...

...that is a matter for the Haitian electorate...

...there is strong feeling between him and Dejoie, and Duvalier and Fignole are trying to link him with the misdeeds of Magloire...

...vigorous and active personality, he employs perhaps 6,000 workers in the production and processing of essential oils...

...Almost continuously the Haitian radio blares forth election propaganda in Creole, the language of the Haitian masses, a patois of basically French origin with additional Spanish, African and Anglo-Saxon elements...

...He promises to raise the standard of living and attack mass illiteracy...

...With its African background, deep French influence, and intimate ties with Latin America and with North America, it can make unique contributions...

...The State Department should not attempt to pick and choose among the Presidential candidates...

...Haiti's living standards are very low even by Latin American standards...

...The island of His-paniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, was one of those discovered by Columbus himself on his first voyage in 1492...

...At the same time, however, the disturbances of the last two months have given rise to apprehension, particularly among the upper classes...

...Such irresponsible reports on Haiti's financial state, he said, would damage the country's credit abroad for at least two years...

...A social and race problem develops from the fact that there is a small middle class and an upper class whose members live well by any standard...

...More than this, there is a spirit of freedom—perhaps even anarchy— which runs deep...

...Manifestations" are organized to cheer or boo candidates when they arrive for a speech in Port au Prince, the capital, or other localities...

...This, he denies...

...Culturally...

...Francois Duvalier, a medical man, sociologist and prolific writer, earned the title of "the invisible man" when he was in hiding to avoid imprisonment under Magloire...

...Haiti is probably a much happier land, as far as the mood of its people goes, than many far richer countries...

...They can flourish rapidly if there is political liberty and a stable, growing economy...

...Telejol makes it difficult for foreign observers to appraise Haitian developments accurately...

...By Thomas P. Whitney CRISIS IN HAITI Since the ouster of its corrupt strong man, the Caribbean republic has seen a frantic election campaign in which democracy itself may be at stake The Republic of Haiti is in the midst of political ferment...

...Thomas P. Whitney visited Haiti recently on busman's holiday...

...Ambassador in Port au Prince, Roy Tasco Davis, played what seems to have been a positive role in the events leading to Magloire's fall...

...If freedom can be preserved, however, Haiti's economic future is not necessarily dismal...

...Though in some other countries Washington is helpless to assist the development of democracy, in Haiti no government can long survive without U.S...

...The same forces prevailed on the legislators to elect a new Provisional President from among their own number, Frank Sylvain...

...Embassy stuck its neck out on the touchy question of the succession to Pierre-Louis, and ended up—with Dejoie—on the low end of the seesaw...

...In this showdown, Dejoie turned out to be isolated from the other candidates, from the legislature and from the Army...

...Also in January, two bombs were set off by unidentified terrorists—one at the doors of the Legislative Palace...

...But in the more recent crisis the U.S...

...One of the great political weaknesses reflected in the recent troubles is Haiti's lack of stable political parties...