Haitians Try Long-Forbidden Activities Like Strikes, Public Meetings

The people of Haiti are enjoying what what they call a second independence, taking part in long-forbidden activities like going on strike and calling public meetings.

They joke about Jean-Claude Duvalier, the president-for-life who has been driven into exile, and about the Tontons Macoutes, the Duvalier thugs who terrorized them for years.

They inquire about what kept the eternal flame burning across from the Presidential Palace, a flame that has gone out.

New discoveries give rise to an impromptu speech or at least an abrupt “Oh!”--the characteristic Haitian expression of surprise.

Leaders Ill at Ease

Unlike the people, however, the provisional government seems ill at ease, apparently incapable of understanding the possibilities open to it. What for the people is a dream of freedom come true is for the government more of a nightmare.

Haitians are overcoming their fear of the old regime with a combination of good humor and wanton destruction. In the days since Duvalier fled, monuments to him and Francois Duvalier, his father and predecessor in the palace, have been systematically vandalized--even the old man’s tomb.

Tontons Macoutes, who served Francois Duvalier and then his son, have been relentlessly pursued. About 20 of them have been killed; many others have seen their homes looted. The minute one is seen on the street, or is thought to have been seen, a crowd of vigilantes materializes.

In recent days, the violence has given way to gibes directed at the exiled dictator. Street vendors offer photocopies of unflattering Duvalier cartoons. Some show him as a monkey with a long tail, referring to a statement he made only days before taking flight that he and his regime were “as strong as a monkey’s tail.”

Resurrected Freedom

But there is a serious aspect to the resurrected freedom of speech. Once-docile newspapers call for the expulsion from the new government of officials linked with Duvalier, and a statue near the Presidential Palace has become a favorite place for soap-box orators.

One of these, Joseph Giradeaux, a self-described tour guide, said the other day: “I declare myself a candidate for president. I promise to visit Washington and Russia immediately, to get them to help us.”

Commercial radio stations have joined stations operated by the Roman Catholic clergy in broadcasting news of student protests and demands. Televised man-in-the-street interviews, something new in Haiti, give people an opportunity to air grievances on everything from the price of rice to traffic tie-ups.

A work force known until now for its manageability has organized several strikes. Stevedores walked off the job last week to protest the alleged presence of two Tontons Macoutes on the port staff. Haitian-American Sugar Co. workers halted work, complaining that one of the firm’s officials was a Duvalier crony.

Power Company Shut Briefly

In both cases, work was resumed after the workers were assured that their complaints would be investigated.

The government-owned electric power company was shut down briefly as the result of a demand for higher wages. Philip Presume, an engineer, said: “We used to get together only to shout ‘Long live the president.’ Now we are taking care of our own interests. We understand that this is a transitional government, but we wanted to make our views known.”

The electrical workers ended their walkout after management accepted a list of their complaints.

Students, whose walkouts and protests were an important factor in Duvalier’s ouster, kept schools closed for days in the towns of Gonaives, Jeremie and Les Cayes. Among their demands are immediate elections.

Not until last Tuesday, when troops firing tear gas broke up a demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace, did the government start cracking down on the protests.

Focus of Curiosity

The palace, a gleaming wedding cake of a building that for years was strictly off-limits to the people, has become the focus of popular curiosity. People who had been forbidden to approach even the sidewalk that rings the palace now stroll up and peer into the guards’ pillboxes.

The eternal flame that was lighted to commemorate Haiti’s independence from France in 1804 has been extinguished, and passers-by peer into the hole where it flickered at the gas lines that fed the flame.

“People used to think that some voodoo kept it going,” Marc Yvon, a mechanic idling by the site, said. “Now they can see, and they don’t believe it was magic.”

On a grassy knoll nearby, several curious people stood around a metal statue of a nearly naked Indian, put up by the Duvalier government in honor of Haiti’s aborigines. Apparently the Indian’s physical characteristics had been a subject of controversy, for more than one of the visitors reached under the Indian’s loin cloth.

“Oh!” one exclaimed.

An Appeal for Order

The government is trying to deal with problems of a different sort. With public demands mounting, the National Council issued a statement Wednesday reviewing its accomplishments: abolition of the Tontons Macoutes; restoration of the red and blue pre-Duvalier national flag; freedom for political prisoners; plans (unspecified) to conduct elections and rewrite the constitution.

“Conscientious citizens should recognize that these accomplishments, made in record time, constitute a phenomenon without precedent in national history,” the statement said. “The National Council of Government launches an appeal for thought, order and discipline that are indispensable at this delicate juncture of national life.”

The government’s first priority is to maintain order, Gerard Gourgue, the minister of justice and member of the council, said in an interview.

“We are going to make reforms,” he said. “But we must study them.”

Secret Government

For 28 years under the Duvaliers, government was secret. No accounts were kept. Cabinet ministers often kept public funds in their desks and dispensed money by the wad. The few public announcements that were made were made at night. Key government officials were hired and fired without notice to the people involved.

The change to a different sort of government has been difficult at times. For some days the National Council continued to fly the red and black Duvalier flag over the Presidential Palace, and some people interpreted this as an indication that Duvalier, if only in spirit, was back in the palace. A near-riot ensued.

In private, some Western diplomats criticized the council for waiting 12 days to announce the confiscation of Duvalier’s property, a symbolic gesture much anticipated by the people.

“The government has to realize,” one diplomat said, “that this is a whole new ball game. People expect action.”

Other diplomatic sources characterize the government as confused. One cited the example of the minister of education, who went off to France even though dozens of Haiti’s schools were closed by student strikes. The attraction in France was a meeting of representatives of French-speaking countries.

A $500-Million Budget

The minister of finance, meanwhile, has still to organize a team of technicians to sort out the national economy. There have been no estimates of revenues or expenditures beyond April, though the budget for 1986 is fixed at $500 million. At least a dozen tax offices have been destroyed in the recent unrest, and no one knows who is collecting taxes in some rural areas.

U.S. Embassy experts are going through the books in an effort to determine how much short-term aid Haiti will need to pay its bills. Among their findings is a foreign currency reserve of less than $1 million, though the new authorities believe that they may have access to $18 million to $20 million in accounts abroad. But Haiti needs about $27 million a month to pay for imports of food and fuel.