LETTER TO THE EDITOR SO FAR AS WE KNOW, THE MAN IS STILL DEAD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000300760001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 31, 2014
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 21, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

3TAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/01/31 : CIA-RDP73-00475R000300760001-1
WASHINGTON
DAILY NEWS ?
MAY 21 1964
So Far as We Know,
'the Man Is Still Dead
j
THE Embassy of Haiti read
l? with amazement an article
written by Virginia Prewett,
? which said that the Haitian Gov-
ernment recently created in New
York an organization called "In-
ternational Squad" for the pur-..
pose_ of spying on Haitian exiles..
That information, as well as
her comments, is completely
whimsical and entirely without
, foundations. ?
For the time being there is no
climate of terror in Haiti. The
country is calm and is working
,-peacefully under the leadership
? of its President who enjoys the
, full support of the Haitian peo-
ple which just renewed once
more 'to him its confidence. . . .
? Visitors returning 'from Haiti
/ unanimously pay, homage to the
? well known Haitian hospitality,
to restored internal peace, and
. to the efforts made by its Presi-
dent to improve the social, po? -.
litical and economic conditions
'of his people:
- President Dtfiralier made ex-
cellent studies at the University
of Michigan, is a sincere ad- ?
mirer and friend of the United
States. He had never ceased to
co-operate in strengthening the
,Regional:?,System. and to, :work
with other States of the Conti-
nent towards Preventing the in-
filtration of the communist ide-
ology, which is a threat to the
stability of the democratic insti-
?tutions of the Western Hemi-
sphere. ? Some Haitian . exile
groups are the protagonists of
this pernicious doctrine.
s It is regrettable that Miss
Prewett associated herself 'with
these groups in order to obtain
her 'information.
ANDRE THEARD
Ambassador-of Haiti'
(NOTE: Miss. Prewett wrote
.that M. Joseph Thevenin, a Hai-
tian on a visit to New York,
spoke in casual criticism of
President Duvalier in a barber-
shop frequented by Haitians;
that on his return home, he was
seized and beaten at the Port-
au-Prince airport; that he van-
ished in the custody of Haitian
authorities and has since been
reported dead by reliable Hai-
tian exile sources'.
The Ambassador's letter de-
nies none of this..
It is understandable that the
'Haitian ambassador, ex-officio,
must defend the Haitian dicta-
' torship. Since that regime does
not allow press freedom in Haiti,
a fact fully confirmed by the
Letters, to the Editor,' to
be considered for publication, ?
must bear the writer's name,
address and phone num-
ber. Names will be with-
held if the writer so requests.
Please keep letters brief.
The Editor reserves the right
to cut them.
Inter American Press- A!$ocitt-j
tion, Miss Prewett must seek in-
formation from the best sources ?
otherwise available: ? ?
? If the ? Haitian government
wishes to controvert' ,M; ?Thev?
nin's death, it cauld,?slioili to an
Antet'ican consul, accompanied
. . . .
by someone who can ' identify '
'M. Thevenin, M. Thevenin
Miss Prewett says She will
. gladly acknowledge that ?th'e
, port she received of his death is ?
mistaken, if this can be done..
?- ? As to the Ambassador's de-
scription of Dr. Duva/ier's de-
tiotion to the United States, its '
policies, its ideals, and to de'
mocracy in general, that is ut-.
ter nonsense. Dr. Duvalier is,
to our personal, first-hand knowl-
edge, a dictator who is as de-
voted an enemy to decent repre-
sentative government with guar..;
anteed civil liberties as he is to
communism. He opposes both,
not as ideologies, but 'merely as;
political rivals to, his own
tablished.police.istate: ?
?
neclassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/01/31 : CIA-RDP73-00475R000300760001-1