February to December 1973 · Haitianspan
An ambassador is kidnapped and the palace arsenal catches fire
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Just before Mardi Gras in 1973 three gunmen seized the American ambassador, Knox, and his first consul, demanding half a million dollars and the release of named political prisoners. Several of those names had not appeared on the list of political prisoners the government published weeks earlier. The French ambassador mediated. Twelve men came out of Fort Dimanche and flew to Mexico with the kidnappers and seventy thousand dollars, and an exile group in New York claimed the operation. In July the palace basement, where nearly all the country's ammunition was stored, caught fire. Explosions carried across the city. The government ignored Haitian firefighters who advised letting it burn and brought experts from the American base at Guantanamo, who put it out. Aid now depended on visible liberalisation, so before inspection teams arrived the government emptied cells at Fort Dimanche, painted them and installed soldiers three to a cell. In December Nixon signed a twenty-six million dollar aid package.
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