The Seeds of Fiction by Richard Greene, Bernard Diederich Page B

Enfield rifles.
    A Dominican patrol boat fired a warning shot over the bow of the
Johnny Express,
but they managed to escape. The following day, in heavy seas, thefreighter drew as close as it could to the Haitian coast near the town of Saltrou.
    The landing proved difficult and costly for the guerrillas. Two men drowned, and most of the detonators for the explosives were lost. The invasion was saved when a fisherman brought his battered boat alongside the
Johnny Express
and helped the others disembark.
    Immediately after landing two Kamoken deserted, but the fisherman agreed to join the group and helped carry the munitions. They were a poorly armed force of twenty-five, and their US olive fatigues confused the Haitian peasants, who thought they were members of Papa Doc’s army or militia.
    The following day Duvalier was informed of the presence of the rebels in the Belle Anse area. The response was terrifying and typical of Papa Doc’s repression. Anyone in the area believed to be anti-Duvalier was taken from their home and killed. Sixty-seven people were executed in the town square. Because one of the Kamoken was identified as Adrien Fandal the Macoutes hunted down and killed anyone in the area with that name. They seized land from the victims, and for years the killers and the relatives of the victims had to live side by side in Belle Anse.
    In Port-au-Prince Papa Doc took personal command of the armed forces. A detachment from the Dessalines battalion was sent to hunt down the Kamoken. They pummelled the mountains with mortar rounds, but the guerrillas were not there. Duvalier’s small air force made daily sorties, and truckloads of militiamen were sent into the mountains. The invasion appeared to evolve into a sustained campaign. The helpless mountain peasants who were caught in the crossfire endured three weeks of terror. If they welcomed the Kamoken they would be executed by the army or Macoutes. If the Kamoken suspected them of being Macoutes they would likewise be executed.
    Haiti’s Foreign Minister, René Chalmers, complained to the UN Security Council, accusing the Dominican Republic of aggression. He claimed the invasion force was made up of Haitian and Dominican elements armed with automatic weapons, grenades, wireless receivers and a large store of ammunition. He said the invaders planned to dynamite bridges and gasoline tanks and accused prominent exiles of being behind the invasion.
    I, too, was also denounced at the UN for providing the Kamoken with identifications. I immediately received a call from Manny Friedman, the foreign editor at the
New York Times,
asking me if I had dropped journalism and become a guerrilla.
    When the Dominican government received news of the invasion, President Reid Cabral countered Duvalier’s charges with his own, accusing Papa Doc of lying and declaring that no invasion force had left from Dominican territory.
    The President summoned me to the Palace. He was in a good mood, pleasedat how he’d rebuffed Duvalier. Then he looked at me and asked, ‘Those Haitians are still in Villa Mella, right?’
    I shrugged.
    â€˜Goddamn it.’ Reid Cabral was furious. ‘I just protested to the OAS [Organization of American States]. How the hell did they do it?’
    Meanwhile the small rebellion continued. Duvalier’s forces were reluctant to venture into the mountains and face a guerrilla force of unknown strength. The army and Macoutes contented themselves with occupying marketplaces and wreaking vengeance on anyone they suspected of helping the rebels. A member of the Kamoken who ventured into a market wearing combat boots was spotted and executed on the spot.
    The guerrillas took over the village of Mapou. Someone accused the local shopkeeper of being a Macoute. The Kamoken ransacked the shop, distributing goods and cash to the peasants. They confiscated a bundle of mortgage notes and IOUs from the store and burned them in a formal ceremony.