Free Elections

Two Caribbean nations noted for their political turbulence in recent years accomplished an amazing election day reversal. On the same day, both the banana-land of Honduras and the Negro republic of Haiti went to the polls for their freest and most peaceful elections in decades. To further the coincidence, a physician with liberal notions was swept to power in each country.

For Haiti, the peaceful election ended a hectic ten months of intermittent rioting and revolt during which six governments tumbled and two election attempts failed. Mild-mannered Dr. Franc,ois Duvalier swept the countryside, rolled over the city majorities won by Planter Louis Dejoie, and emerged with 71% of the 950,000 votes cast. Some fraud was unquestionably committed; e.g., primitive, roadless La Gonave Island, with 13,300 voters in 1950, reported 18,941 Duvalier ballots to 463 for Dejoie. A hard-working doctor who has spent years working to eliminate yaws in Haiti's backlands, Duvalier announced that he would promptly ask for a U.S. fiscal expert to clean up the mess in Haiti's bankrupt treasury.

The Honduran election brought power at last to Dr. Ramon Villeda Morales, who won an election three years ago but was counted out by back-country political bosses. During the interval, while Honduras was ruled by dictatorship and junta, Villeda went off to Washington as ambassador, gradually moderated some of his leftist ideas. As Villeda stopped talking of doubling and tripling wages, the junta warmed to him, decided to let the voters elect a constituent assembly. In last week's balloting, Villeda's Liberals won 36 out of the 58 seats. The assembly also has legislative powers and can either name Villeda President or schedule elections, which he claims to prefer and would probably win with ease.

The main difference between the two countries was in the aftermaths. In Honduras the junta leader declared his task ended, announced that he was taking a long vacation. But in Haiti the junta had to call out troops to smash a storekeepers' strike inspired by Dejoie supporters, the next day put Port-au-Prince under martial law--a move which aroused fears that Haiti's junta might not yet be ready to turn over power to civilian authority.

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