Papa & His Boy

"Duvalier or Death," read the crudely lettered placards, and 20,000 bewildered peasants herded into Port au Prince obediently tootled bamboo horns, honked on conch shells, and flew kites with painted pictures of "The Renovator." Having brought a crowd to cheer, the dictator who masquerades as Haiti's constitutionally elected President, showed himself in public again and again last week, telling his Negro people that Haiti's problems are economic, not political, and that he has no quarrel with "Monsieur Kennedy, who believes that our continent should be a community of free and independent states." Yet everywhere he drove, Duvalier kept his own trusty carbine at the ready.

Duvalier's overture to the U.S. fell on deaf ears. The State Department recalled Ambassador Raymond L. Thurston for "consultation" on U.S. policy in Haiti. How far the U.S. would go was unclear. The question is: After Duvalier, what? The Haitians in exile are poorly organized and mostly led by men whose past records would earn them a small hello. Inside Haiti, Duvalier's strongest enemy is little better than "Papa Doc" himself. He is Clement Barbot, 49, a longtime Duvalier crony and killer, who bossed the dread Tonton Macoute goon squads until Duvalier turned on him in 1960. Barbot spent 18 months in his own jail, then was released and went underground, swearing to assassinate his former mentor.

Last week two U.S. newsmen were taken to Barbot's Haitian hideout, and he and his brother Harry posed for pistol-packing pictures. Barbot claimed that he was responsible for the recent killing of three guards and the attempted kidnaping of Duvalier's two children; since then, his men have fought half a dozen bloody skirmishes with Duvalier's militiamen. "I have many friends who say they are with Duvalier now," he said, "but inside they are with Barbot." If he does topple Duvalier, Barbot promises free elections within six months. But then he, too, wants to be President, and if the people insist, he will run in the elections.

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