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i
knew there was a "state department advisory" against
travel to haiti, but i looked up news reports from the last 2
or 3 years & they didn't seem so different from what was
happening this year. turned out to be quite different. during
the 2 weeks i was there, the armed opposition took over the northern
part of the country, ran the police out of the towns, set up
blockades on the roads. we didn't see any troubles in kenscoff,
or in jacmel when we went for kanaval, tho of course it was all
anybody talked about, lucienne went around with a little radio
to her ear all her waking hours. as the day of my scheduled departure
approached, it was obvious port-au-prince would fall soon, &
there were rumours american airlines would cease flites into
haiti. ash wednesday, 25 february, we left home at dawn, even
tho my flite wasn't until 11:30, & it was a good thing we
did. all the main routes to the airport were blockaded with tires
or car carcases, manned by angry young men with guns, no police
in sight. it took hours to get to the airport, finding our way
thru the maze of back streets, thank goodness luci came along,
she knows the city pretty well & was so good at getting directions.
the airport was crazy & there were teams of journalists with
video cameras looking to interview blan (white folks) who were
leaving before they had planned to. apparently there were flites
out on the following day, but david said one would have needed
an armed escort to get to the airport. then on sunday president
aristide left and haiti entered another chapter of its tumultuous
history. |
