1973, February – December: (The Knox Kidnapping, the Palace Basement Fire of July 22, the Theresienstadt Charade at Fort Dimanche, the $26 Million Nixon Aid …

1973, February – December: (The Knox Kidnapping, the Palace Basement Fire of July 22, the Theresienstadt Charade at Fort Dimanche, the $26 Million Nixon Aid Package, and the Dinosaurs vs. the Liberalizers): The regime was moving into a position that Papa Doc had never allowed — it was becoming dependent on foreign aid, the once cool and correct relationship with Washington having grown steadily more cozy since the succession, though certain cosmetic changes were required to sell domestically the notion that things were improving. It was thus of particular concern when just before Mardi Gras in 1973, Ambassador Knox — after nearly four years in service, a veteran — and his First Consul were kidnapped by three gunmen demanding the release of several political prisoners and $500,000 in ransom. Compounding the confusion was the fact that several of the prisoners whose freedom was sought had not appeared on what had been thought an authoritative list of political prisoners issued by the government weeks earlier. With the mediation of the French ambassador, twelve prisoners were released from Fort Dimanche and put aboard a Mexico-bound Air Haiti DC-6 with the kidnappers and $70,000 in ransom money; an exile group in New York — the Coalition of National Liberation Brigades — claimed responsibility and warned that more violence could be expected. That rule was very nearly cut short in familiar fashion: one procedure unchanged was the storage of nearly all munitions in the palace basement, access strictly limited. From causes unknown, a fire roared through the basement on — of course — July 22. Huge explosions reverberated throughout the city as ammunition detonated. The regime sought help from the American embassy, discarding advice from Haitian firefighters to let the fire burn itself out; experts were brought in from the U.S. Naval base at Guantánamo Bay and doused the blaze. Initial reports had the building largely destroyed like its predecessors in 1912 and 1883, but Paul Baussan’s structure proved hardier, requiring substantial repairs while remaining Port-au-Prince’s most imposing building. The international aid the regime now depended on was conditioned on continuing liberalization — evidenced to the outside world’s satisfaction by incremental loosening of press controls, periodic freeing of Fort Dimanche survivors, and tolerating visits by human rights groups, the latter especially galling to the old-line Duvalierists referred to as the dinosaurs by younger, lighter-skinned members of the government. After a few initial mistakes, the government perfected its routine: emptying cells at Fort Dimanche, painting them, and substituting felons and even soldiers three or four to a cell for the dozens of skeletal carcasses that had been crammed in before an investigating commission’s arrival — much like the Nazi charade at Theresienstadt, all done with the utmost cynicism. Beneath the surface, however, there was a change in tone: few were arrested on mere whim, fewer still subjected to the elaborate tortures once routinely conducted in the palace basement. The Rigaud/Cazeau mission to Washington bore fruit before Congress adjourned for Christmas — U.S. aid to Haiti was more than doubled as President Nixon signed into law a $26 million aid package for the country.