‘Test’ strike fails to halt Haiti

Press, 12 June 1986, Page 10

‘Test’ strike fails to halt Haiti

NZPA-Reuter Port-au-Prince Leaders of Haiti’s budding political opposition have suffered a big setback by failing to halt the country with a general strike called to force the dismissal of two key Government officials. Although virtually all schools in the capital were closed yesterday for fear of trouble, dozens of shopkeepers ignored the strike call and were open as usual. Buses and taxis ran, the international airport reported normal business, and work went on at several building sites. Reports from Haiti’s second-biggest city, Cap Haitien, said the strike call had been ignored; schools, businesses, and offices worked normally. Diplomats had viewed the strike as a key test of popular backing for the opposition parties that have mushroomed since almost three decades of

rule by the Duvalier family ended in February. “The opposition clearly overestimated its capabilities,” said one Western envoy. “They conceived this as a show of strength, but it turned out a demonstration of weakness and lack of organisation.” A statement signed by 50 political figures last Saturday said the strike was meant to force Lieu-tenant-General Henri Namphy into ousting the Finance Minister, Mr Lesly Delatour, and Colonel William Regala, one of the three men on the civilian-military council running Haiti. The two men have been accused of collaborating with the Duvaliers. Appeals for full support for the strike were repeated on Tuesday by the Christian Democratic Party of a veteran politician, Sylvio Claude, and the Autonomous Centre of Haitian Workers, two groupings regarded as relatively influential.