The+Duvaliers


 * THE DUVALIERS **

François Duvalier (1907-1971)
 //Background// Duvalier was born on April 14, 1907 in the town of Port-au-Prince. In 1934 he graduated from the University of Haiti with a degree in Medicine. After a year of studying public health at the University of Michigan he returned to Haiti on a US sponsored campaign to help the poor fight diseases like Typhus and Malaria. This is where Duvalier got the nickname "Papa Doc" that would follow him through he political career. Early in his life he became a follower of the voodoo religion. As he gained power his views would become more extreme. Duvalier was married and had 4 children, one being Jean-Claude, his s on "Baby Doc" who would eventually take over as president.

//Pre-Presidency/ Rise to Power// Once Duvalier returned from his education in the US, he became minister of health and labor under President Dumersais Estime. In 1950, Paul Magalore took over as president in a coup d'etat and Duvalier fled to the countryside. After establishing a large amount of support in the countryside, he returned to the city in 1956 after Magalore granted amnesty to any of his previous political opponents. Later that year Magalore resigned and Duvalier ran against Louis Dejoie in the Presidential Election. Duvalier was backed by the army and challenged the mulatto population. He appealed to the rural black community, saying that the upper class mulattoes were making it harder on them to survive. Duvalier won and was sworn in as president on October 22, 1957.

The Presidency of Francois Duvalier Duvalier's first step as president was to exile previous supporters of Dejoie and create a new constitution. He immediately faced problems coming from the candidates he defeated in the election. Even though exiled, they encouraged acts of violence and disobedience to take down his government. He also faced coups from his own government early in his career but they were put down and Duvalier put new people in charge that were closer to him. To suppress these threats he created his own secret police. The MVSN (Milice Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale) was a rural militia that eventually had more members than the Haitian army. This group got coined the name Tonton Macoutes, which means the boegymen, for their terrorism and violence. It is estimated that 30,000 people were killed by this secret police.

media type="youtube" key="eDithKVtIss" height="344" width="425" Francois Duvalier on the Tonton Macoutes

Duvalier also expelled all of Haiti's foreign born bishops that earned him an excommunication from the Catholic Church. In 1959 Duvalier suffered a heart attack and the leader of the Tonton Macoutes was put in charge, Clement Barbot. When Duvalier returned he claimed Barbot planned to overthrow him and kidnap his children. A massive search was ordered and Barbot was finally killed by the secret police. During the search Duvalier claimed Barbot has turned himself into a black dog and ordered the death of all black dogs. After violating the constitution multiple times and under heavy pressure from other governments including the US, Duvalier made a blunt move and rigged the election. He was the only candidate on the ballot and won 1,320,748 to zero. The next year in another illegal constitution change and made himself President for Life. After this, relations between Duvalier and other countries were strained but calmed down. For the rest of his term as president he continued to violate human rights and instill fear into his people. In January 1971, his son Jean Claude Duvalier took over as President and Francois died later that year on April 21.

//Policies and Corruption// Throughout the political career of Duvalier, bribery, violence, and repression were used to get what he wanted. One campaign was to rid Haiti of all communists. Duvalier was very anti-communist because of his own beliefs and to help get US support on his side. Anyone even suspected of Communism was killed without any trial or proof. One of Duvalier's biggest actions was to remove the wealthy mulatto class from Haiti and install a new black middle class. His closest supporters were bribed enough to make them get rid of these wealthy men. Many of them were educated professionals who fled the country so they would not be persecuted. Haiti has never recovered from this blow to its economy. Also, many of the very poor peasants had their land taken away from them to be given to the government. These people moved into slums in the cities and they grew overtime. Malnutrition and famine became rampant in these slums and continue to be to this day. Duvalier's policies on religion also became very extreme. He claimed he was a voodoo priest and God had chosen him to be one. Many of Duvalier's moves to this day still haunt the country.

//Dominican Relations// Relations between the two countries were always bad but got very tense in 1963 when war almost broke out. Dominican President Juan Bosch provided support and a home to Haitians who fled the country and opposed the Duvalier government. Duvalier sent troops to the Dominican embassy and Bosch was outraged, saying publicly he would invade Haiti if anything else happened. Bosch refrained from attacking and the war never happened. Duvalier also got mad at the US for helping out the Dominican Republic and stated that they were leaving the "poor negro republic out in the cold."

Cuban Relations Fidel Castro was an enemy of Duvalier because Castro was a communist leader. He cut of all relations with Haiti after Duvalier voted against Cuba in a UN meeting and started his plan to rid Haiti of all communists.

Jean-Claude Duvalier, the son of Francios Duvalier and also called "Baby Doc", succeeded his father as leader of Haiti in 1971 at age 19. He would rule in a manner much like his father's until an uprising removed him from power in 1986. //Early Life// Jean-Claude was born and raised in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. During his youth, Jean-Claude recieved a top of the line education, attending Haiti's best and most prestigious schools. He studied law at the University of Haiti, but was thrust into power at only 19 years of age after his father's death. Jean-Claude was unhappy that he had become the world's youngest president, wanting the decisions and pressure to be left with his older sister and mother. This is essentially what happened for the beginning of his reign, during which he lived as a playboy. //Regime// Because of the younger Duvalier's decision to essentially stay out of the political and economical duties of his postition, the responsibilty fell on the "dinosaurs", which were hardline followers of the Duvalier regime. Some steps were made during his time to relieve some of the harsh conditions put in place by his father, including releasing of some political prisoners and reducing press censorship. For this reason, foreign countries were more tolerant of "Baby Doc" than they were of his father, and many were willing to give some financial aid. In fact, the United States restored its aid program to Haiti in 1971. However, Duvalier did not change much else, and people were still very unhappy in Haiti. Jean-Claude made many mistakes that would eventually lead to his downfall. One such mistake was his marriage to a mulatto woman named Michele Pasquet. Francois Duvalier had always oppressed the mulatto community in Haiti, and to many Duvalierists, the marriage symbolized a rejection of the old ideals. Also not helping Jean-Claude's cause was the spread of diseases, including AIDS, as well as a large drop in tourism, vast amounts of hunger, and major economic problems. Haitians were becoming fed up, and in 1985 a revolt began. As it spread throughout Haiti, the United States began adding pressure for Duvalier and his family to give up power and leave Haiti. In 1986, at the urging of both the US and Duvalierists within Haiti, they were exiled to France where they live to this day. //Haitian Point of View// Much like his father, Jean-Claude was not liked by the majority of Haitians. Although some reforms were made, the nation was still racked by poverty and disease, and there seemed to be no aid in sight. The view of the new Duvalier from other countries was a more positive one, but the citizens of Haiti were not appreciative. With the exception of hardline Duvalierists, most Haitians were looking for ways to end the rule of Jean-Claude. They were most unhappy with Duvalier's spending of the Haitian money, which many said he used as a [|slush fund]. Their views did eventually boil over in 1985 when the revolt began.
 * Jean-Claude Duvalier (1951-) **


 * United States Policy and Relations With Haiti**

//Early Relations// The relationship between Haiti and the United States was as controversial and political in the very beginning as it was for the following centuries. Haiti gained independence during a slave revolt by Toussaint L'Overtoure during the beginning of the nineteenth-century, which was also during the formative years of the young United States of America. Because of this a natural controversy arose in the United States over whether or not they should recognize this new country formed from a violent and bloody slave revolt. For many Americans the question of whether or not supporting Haiti would incite similar results from its own enslaved population arose. By the time of the Civil War, however, and the pivotal Emancipation Proclamation, the United States, led by Abraham Lincoln, began its first formal and recognized relations with Haiti.

//Tension Between "Papa Doc" and Kennedy// While Haitian-American relations during the Duvalier years are generally marked by begrudging acceptance of an anti-communist despot, there was some initial hostility. John F. Kennedy squared off with François Duvalier after serious accusations were made that the despot had been stealing from the US aide money that was intended for the Haitian people. JFK eventually suspended all aid to the Caribbean nation and relations between the two nations broke off. However, with the rising Cold War, the United States turned back to its former antagonist.

//The Cold War And the Resulting Relations// Any discussion of Haitian-American relations during the "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" years is dominated by one central theme, and that is the almost all-encompassing Cold War. Following the Allied victory against Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan in the Second World War, the West, led by the United States, found itself in a power struggle with its former ally, the Soviet Union. The cause of this particular conflict has very complicated origins but in effect, it was a clash of ideologies (the West preaching [|capitalism] and the USSR preaching [|communism]) coupled with each sides intent to fill the power void left by the disastrous World War.

By the end of the 1960s, the struggle was in full swing and as a result, the focus of all American foreign policy was geared toward the Cold War. This resulted in much of the decision making in Washington in regards to every corner of the world to always be made with the consideration of how it would fit it in with the larger conflict with Moscow. Sometimes the United States would show this through proxy wars, such as in Afghanistan and the Middle East, while other times they would publicly enter wars, such as the Vietnam and Korean wars. The rationale behind such maneuvers was the so-called "domino theory", which was particularly applicable in regards to the US relations toward Haiti during the Duvalier regimes.

When fighting communism in its own hemisphere, the United States often times changed its tactics to prevent open-war. In keeping with their attempts at containing the communist growth, the United States would often support capitalist strong-men in Central American countries. And as a result, the United States supported both the Duvalier regimes for precisely that reason: they were strong "bulwarks" that were able to contain the spread of communism. As you can see in the map to the right, Haiti is very close to Cuba. During the years in question, Cuba was under the rule of the communist leader, Fidel Castro. Naturally the Americans feared that in accordance with the "domino theory", the countries around Cuba would fall to communism. And so, in order to avoid such a fate, American foreign policymakers turned the other way to the totalitarian Duvalier regimes in return for their staunch combativeness toward communism. This was clearly not one of America's brighter moments in letting such tyrants rule, but they would reply with the question: would you rather little reds running around the whole of the Americas? The answer is probably not, but as a result of the American foreign policy with Haiti during those decades, problems there have fermented and only become worse. Both of the Duvaliers were obviously awful men but they displayed a certain amount of cunning and understanding of world politics in order to exploit the American fear of communism.

//United States and Haitian Relations During the Fall of "Baby Doc's" Regime// During the the 1980s, Jean-Claude Duvalier's grasp on the power began to wane as more and more pressure arose from within in Haiti for his transfer of power. By this time, the Cold War was on the decline as well as the Soviet Union, which seemed to be ever closer to collapse as at this time they were embroiled in their own Vietnam, [|the war in Afghanistan]. So with the Americans no longer in need for the strong bulwark against communism, and the theories of "the domino theory" and containment becoming more and more unfounded, the United States, under Ronald Reagan, increased pressure on Duvalier to relinquish power.


 * Haitians Point of View **

==//View of the Duvalier Regime// == During the Duvalier regime the people of Haiti were under relentless oppression and harassment from their government. These people lived in constant fear of being kicked off their land or worse; killed. The creation of the Tonton Macoutes only increased the chances of both of these happening and thus increasing the fear among the people. The main feeling of the people was fear, which led to hatred, but they were forced to hold these feelings of hatred in, so that they would not become a target of the Tonton Macoute. Adding to the hatred of their government was the fact that many of the rural peasants were being stripped of their land and forced to work in the cities in an attempt to create industry. What was worse about the move was the fact that these farmers were forced to live in the overcrowded shantytowns in which the quality of living conditions could not even be measured. Many Haitians were outraged by these forced moves, but all their emotion was bottled up, or else they would become another victim to the secret police. These feelings of resentment were not only felt by the lower class peasantry, but also by the wealthy mulatto class, who were exiled to make room for Duvalier’s vision of a black middle class. This caused a great deal of anger from the exiles, who in turn went on to encourage violent acts and protest against the government.

//View on US Involvement// During the reign of the Duvaliers the US was wrapped up in the Cold War, and they were looking for any possible addition to the capitalist allegiance, no matter who was in charge, or what they were doing. This philosophy was utilized with the US’s relationship with Haiti as they turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Duvaliers, in order to keep another capitalist ally. This was not looked very well upon by the Haitian people as they hoped that maybe a country that was supposed to stand for equality and justice would stand up to the pair of tyrants that had disregarded these two ideals. Quite the contrary took place as the US turned a blind eye to the Haitians suffering. The only time the US stood up for the Haitians was when aid that had been meant for the people magically fell into the pockets of the government; but instead of giving direct aid to the people to help their suffering, the US decided cut all aid to the country leaving it in its constant state of poverty. The turning of a blind eye and lack of action taken by the US in Haiti only angered the people, and led to great resentment towards the US that has lasted until today.

= = = = =Bibliography=

 Abbot, Elizabeth. __The Woeful Dynasty: The Duvaliers and Their Legacy__. McGraw Hill: Austin, 1988.  This book was found and read mainly in snippets online. It was very helpful and was one of the most detailed sources. It was used most specifically for the section on Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Answers.com. "Jean-Claude Duvalier". [] (Accessed February 11 2010). This website was very clear and concise and easy to use. It was used on the Jean-Claude Duvalier portion of the site. It was divided into clear cut sections that made sense and went into detail on a variety of different perspectives on the rule of "Baby Doc".

This was an excellent website for the section on the Haitians point of view as it was a mixed collection of some primary and secondary accounts during the Duvalier years. It provided very good insight into what the common Haitian was dealing with on an everyday basis

Eisenhower, Dwight. “Domino Theory Principle, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954.” Humanities and Social Sciences Online. @http://www.h-net.org/...hst306/documents/domino.html (accessed February 10, 2010).

This source is a transcript of a news conference between President Eisenhower and some news reporters in which Eisenhower outlines the "domino theory". The source was not biased as all it did was show a news conference, but the content of it was biased as it was coming from the president of the United States, who would inherently be pro-America. In short, the source was primarily used in the parts relating to Haitian-American relations and what the "domino theory" really was.

Federal Research Division. //Haiti////:// //Country Studies//. Washington DC: Library of Congress. @http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/httoc.html (accessed February 10, 2010).

This source was used extensively for gaining background knowledge about Haiti, as it covered almost every component of the Haitian country, economy, and other such things. The source did, however, have bias as it was the product of the United States government. That being said, it was not overflowing with skewed numbers or anything but rather when explaining the relations between Haiti and the United States it took a generous view of things.  "Francois Duvalier (1907-1971)". http://www.polymernotes.org/biographies/HTI_bio_duvalier.htm (accessed February 12, 2010).

This short biography did not give much information on Duvalier's life but it did give a good analysis on his relationship with other countries. One of his quotes on the US and Dominican Republic was taken from this page.

"The Duvalier Dynasty, 1957-1986." http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/haiti/duvalier-dynasty.htm (accessed February 5, 2010).

This website gave a very in-depth look at the years of Duvalier rule. It gave a lot of information on their relationships with other countries and the crimes they committed inside of the country. The bias is toward the US and other countries because it is very harsh on all aspects of the Haitian government during the time of Duvalier rule.