
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1994                   TAG: 9407280066
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI                                LENGTH: Medium

HAITI PLANS VOODOO AS LINE OF DEFENSE

``You Americans believe in your weapons and the almighty dollar,'' said Wilfrid Paul, as he sat in the shade of a mango tree on the dusty outskirts of town. ``We Haitians believe in this:''

He raised a rattle-filled gourd and shook it at the sky. Paul, 41, is a voodoo priest.

``The U.S. Army will have weapons and bullets,'' he said. ``But what we will have are drums, whips, singers and the Haitian trumpet. And we will go into the streets and win.''

Paul, who has been a priest since he was 16, is not alone in thinking black magic will prevail over high-powered rifles if President Clinton orders a military invasion of Haiti. Almost all of his countrymen believe in voodoo.

``It's like fighting with the air,'' Paul warned. ``You will be hit and not even know what hit you.''

Voodoo priests in this capital city who are allied with Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras' military junta have been stocking up on poison powder that they believe can turn people into zombies. Those in the north reportedly are unhappy that hoarding has made powder prices skyrocket.

In the south, voodoo priests have hidden caches of ``koutle,'' a zombie-making potion that comes in a bottle. They say they are ready for the Marines.

Paul plans to summon the powerful Haitian gods to possess Haitian souls and make them fierce fighters, and to hex American soldiers.

If an invasion comes, he and his followers plan to gather at his temple and beat drums to summon Ounto, the god of the drum. They will sing warrior songs and dance. He does not worry about U.S. warplanes flying overhead.

``To them, we will be transparent.''

Then Paul will join the ranks of Bizango and Blengenden, Haiti's two ultra-secret voodoo societies, whose members number in the hundreds of thousands.

At an appointed time, the societies' seven generals will call their followers to meet on a black carpet at an assigned meeting spot. There, the members will don robes and brightly decorated sombrero-like hats - and then begin the chants.

``The U.S. is a superpower. They will invade a country with no weapons. Why should they be afraid of powders and music? I'll tell you why: Boats will start sinking, Americans will start shooting Americans and planes will begin to burn and fall from the sky,'' Paul said calmly.

by CNB