Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-05-11

"bogeymen."
Palace Area Taboo
The Haitian on his way to
work at 8 am, If he is lucky
enough to have a job in a
country with a so per cent
unemployment rate, may find
that his route passes through
the Champs de Mars. Here
stands the great white presi-
Dental palace from which
President Duvalier has not
emerged since May /.
If the barefoot woman with
a perfectly balanced head
load Of manages (there are AZ
kinds of mango in HATH, or
the peasant on the back OF
his incredibly loaded donkey
passes the palace they must
not walk on the sidewalk
closest to the palace. There
are troops and tanks there to
keep President Duvalier safe.
1t is as If no one were al
lowed on the south side of the
1900 block of Pennsylvania
avenue NV, from which only
Washington's tourist guides
are barred.
At 8 am. and again at
pm. a Haitian army band and
troops assemble to hold a col
ors ceremony. When the band
strikes up the national an
them, La Dessalinienne," and
the red-and-blue flag of Hal
ii rises to wave over the pal
ace, all pedestrians halt in
their tracks. Automobiles are
braked and donkeys are refined
in, for everyone is required
to diSmount and stand facing
the banner. Americans here
say there have been times
when people have been dragged
out of cars for failing to CON-
ply with this shibboleth.
Reeking Slums
A quick tour around The
capital city shows sharp con-
trasts-the desperate povert!
of the slum-dwellers and TIT
peasants compared with thu
rocco chateaux and Califor'
mia modern homes on TIT
3, 000-foot mountainside over
looking Port au Prince.
The worst Slums are 81
Saline" which means some
thing vaguely filthy, anc
"Croix de BoSsal," which wa
a scar cut on the cheek o
slaves when Haiti was Frencl
more than 200 years ago. Thes
reeking habitationS compar
unfavorably with the unbeliev
able Favelas of Brazil, tn
J worst slums of Algeria and tn
Barrios which once were tn
homes of the poor in Puert
Rico.
New York's tenements woul
z look like rest homes to tn
! residents of the Port au Primo
] slums. Pigs root among tn
jerry-built shanties. The toilC
4 is the mud outside. The SINE
S is overpowering and flies BLACK
en- the fruit, manioc, sweet pr
y tatoes and meat displayed @
mats in the market areas.
4 They live in these slums bt
: cause the average Haitian dot
y not make in a year what is pal
e to a common American LAHORE
in one week. In the countr,
the peasants are little bette
off, but they have the savin
opportunity to reach into a tire
! for a mango when they al
! hungry.
Export Coffee to U. S.
Industry? Haiti sells nearl
!. all its coffee to the Unite
States and one dares not CUES
> what would happen here
that market we're cut off, q
, tourism has been. Bananas ar
exported. So is carved mahog
, any. although the improviden
, HaitianS long ago cut dow
|, most of their own trees,
. that the wood has to be i'm
ported.
Despite all this, Haiti has
: favorable balance Of trade bu
is not a grade-A credit risE
With such millions as the gov
! eminent collects. the Duvalie
regimes greatest contribution
to the common wealth hav
been two structures of pointe
significance: A new polio
, headquarters and a new Ia
, office.
Still being built but not com
pleted is a new housing devel
opment, designed to eliminat
!, such eyesores as La Saline
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