Haiti Going from a Sham to a Farce

As late-night viewing goes, it was startling fare. Just after 1 a.m., Haitian television screens were suddenly filled with the image of Lieut. General Henri Namphy, wearing a steel helmet and flanked by soldiers. "Everybody is now in the army because it is this army that is going to lead this country," he shouted, brandishing a submachine gun. Namphy, speaking live from Haiti's National Palace, was pronouncing himself President of a new military government. Hours earlier, soldiers had driven up to the palace and fired bursts of gunfire into the air while Namphy seized control. Five miles away, other troops surrounded the home of President Leslie Manigat, who promptly surrendered and was flown with his family into exile in the Dominican Republic. Thus Manigat's civilian rule, which had begun just 130 days earlier as an electoral sham, ended as a military farce.

The bloodless coup capped a week-long power struggle between the President and his army commander-in-chief. Once again the big losers were the Haitian people, who continue to endure one of the world's lowest standards of living (annual per capita income: $333) and who have gained little from the top- level game of musical chairs that began with the February 1986 ouster of Jean- Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier. Said an embittered young woman waiting at a Port-au-Prince bus depot last week: "Nothing has really changed. We remain with nothing." The mood was cautious in Washington, where the Reagan Administration, instrumental in the toppling of Duvalier, has staked considerable prestige on establishing a democratic government in Haiti.

The spark of optimism ignited by Duvalier's departure had flickered uneasily through the excesses of a provisional government headed by Namphy. But when election day arrived last November, all hopes for a peaceful transition to democracy were dashed when the balloting gave way to a bloodbath. Nearly two months later, Manigat was declared the winner of a second election, in which * less than 10% of the voters took part. Last week few mourned his fate. "For the people, Manigat was a puppet of the army," says the Rev. Antoine Adrian, a Catholic priest in Port-au-Prince.

The drama began a week earlier, when Namphy attempted to reassign Colonel Jean-Claude Paul, a Manigat loyalist who was indicted in Miami three months ago on drug-trafficking charges. But Paul balked at being transferred to a less important military post, and was backed up by Manigat, who rescinded Namphy's order. Two days later, the President dismissed Namphy himself for "insubordination." Attempting to consolidate his power, Manigat had Namphy placed under house arrest and announced the reassignment or retirement of 37 officers.

Manigat's fatal error may have been to shift the powerful Colonel Prosper Avril from the head of the presidential guard to an insignificant desk job. Avril, 50, a veteran schemer with close ties to the old Duvalier regime, is thought to have engineered last week's coup. Promoted to brigadier general after the takeover, Avril is widely believed to be the guiding force behind the military regime.