Haiti’s New Chief Installs Cabinet, Says Democracy Is ‘the Final Aim’

Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril installed a Cabinet made up mostly of little-known civilians Monday, pledging that the new government will lead this tortured island nation to democracy.

“This Cabinet of ministers has to be considered as an inevitable transition before we implement democracy, which is the final aim of this military government,” a seemingly relaxed Avril said in a ceremony at the gleaming-white national palace.

He pledged “a national reconstruction of this country that has been ravaged, mutilated and humbled.”

Avril assumed the presidency and promoted himself from brigadier general to lieutenant general early Sunday after a coup toppled the previous military government of Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy.

The capital was mostly calm Monday, as shops reopened and roadside vendors did a brisk business on a steamy day. There were, however, reports of intermittent gunshots throughout the city.

In Washington, the Reagan Administration adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward the new regime and indicated that conditions in Haiti are not expected to settle quickly. American tourists have been cautioned not to travel to Haiti.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that while the Administration is still evaluating the new situation in Haiti, “it would be difficult to detect much difference” between Avril and Namphy.

In an apparent show of confidence in the new regime, the Haitian currency firmed somewhat against the dollar on the semiofficial market after a sharp decline Friday, when the coup appeared imminent.

Nevertheless, Avril’s government faces formidable economic and social problems. It is also far from certain if Avril will be able to curb the Tontons Macoutes, a feared paramilitary force that was believed to be behind a recent reign of terror. The force dates from the days of the dictatorship of the late Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude.

The terror, in effect, produced the reaction that led to the coup that toppled Namphy.

‘Only an Individual’

“Avril is only an individual,” said one student who declined to give his name. “He heads a system that will not let him change.”

Avril acknowledged the challenge he faces. “The Haitian nation is in a crisis,” he said. “It is deeply hurt in its soul, and possibly in its vital organs. Convulsions and turmoil have marked these last years.”

Avril selected an 11-member Cabinet that included just one military man on active duty, Col. Carl Dorsainvil, who was named defense minister.

Serge Eli Charles, a former Haitian ambassador to the United Nations and a retired military officer, was named foreign minister. At the same time, Supreme Court Justice Gilbert Austin was named justice minister. Most of the other Cabinet members are largely unknown civilian technocrats.

“The Cabinet doesn’t represent any party or any group,” Avril said. “The ministers will have to stand over the parties and factions.”

There was no Cabinet post for Lt. Col. Jean-Claude Paul, commander of the 700-man Dessalines Barracks and a longtime foe of Namphy. Paul is popular with the pro-democracy opposition, but he is an anathema to the Reagan Administration because he has been indicted on drug-trafficking charges in Miami.

Avril assumed the presidency Sunday after noncommissioned officers of the Presidential Guard announced that they had deposed Namphy. It was not clear, however, whether the rebels acted on their own or at the instigation of Avril, who spent much of his military career in the Presidential Guard.

However, the coup seems to have spawned a new spirit of rebellion in the ranks of the armed forces against the officer corps, which is widely considered to be riddled with corruption.

There were reports that noncommissioned officers of the elite Leopard Battalion disarmed their chief, Col. Avilard Denis, placed him under arrest and delivered him to army headquarters. The soldiers demanded the right to pick their own leaders, according to a report broadcast by local radio.

Prescription for Chaos?

“If the NCOs are serious about toppling the army as an institution, this could lead to chaos,” a European resident of Port-au-Prince said. “The army was the only real functioning unit of society. The political parties are practically non-existent. The labor unions are weak and divided. The church is divided between traditionalists and radical advocates of the liberation theology.”

Namphy apparently lost the confidence of the military because he allied himself with Franck Romain, the mayor of Port-au-Prince, who is considered to be a leader of the Tontons Macoutes.

According to well-informed Haitians, Romain was believed to have been behind the Sept. 11 attack on St. Jean Bosco Roman Catholic Church, as Father Jean Bernard Aristide, an outspoken opponent of the government, was saying Mass. A total of 13 people were killed and 77 were injured.

The next day, several men were interviewed on national television bragging about the attack and vowing to repeat it every time Aristide appeared in the pulpit.

Revolt Leader

Although it is not clear whether Namphy was personally involved in the attack, the government did nothing to stop it. Namphy’s alliance with Romain was taken by his critics as evidence that he was involved.

Namphy was the leader of the revolt that deposed the younger Duvalier in 1986. At that time, he enjoyed firm support from the Administration. Secretary of State George P. Shultz traveled to Port-au-Prince to praise Namphy who, at that time, had promised to yield power to an elected government.

The Administration cut off economic aid to Haiti valued at about $100 million last November, when scheduled elections to replace the military rule were called off after an eruption of violence. State Department spokesman Charles Redman indicated Monday that no thought has been given to resuming the aid.

Namphy did step aside briefly last February when Leslie F. Manigat was elected president in a contested election that the Administration described as “fraud” and Haitian opposition leaders denounced as “rigged.” However, Namphy returned to power in June, ousting the civilian president.