Like many Haitian leaders, François Duvalier produced a constitution to solidify his power. In 1961 he proceeded to violate the provisions of that constitution, which had gone into effect in 1957. He replaced the bicameral legislature with a unicameral body and decreed presidential and legislative elections. Despite a 1957 prohibition against presidential reelection, Duvalier ran for office and won with an official tally of 1,320,748 votes to zero. Not content with this sham display of democracy, he went on in 1964 to declare himself president for life. For Duvalier, the move was a matter of political tradition; seven heads of state before him had claimed the same title.
An ill-conceived coup attempt in July 1958 spurred Duvalier to act on
his conviction that Haiti's independent military threatened the security
of his presidency. In
December the president sacked the armed forces chief of staff and replaced
him with a more reliable officer. This action helped him to expand a Presidential
Palace army unit into the Presidential Guard. The Guard became the elite
corps of the Haitian army, and its sole purpose was to maintain Duvalier's
power. After having established his own power base within the military,
Duvalier dismissed the entire general staff and replaced aging Marinetrained
officers with younger men who owed their positions, and presumably their
loyalty, to Duvalier.
Duvalier also blunted the power of the army through a rural militia
formally named the Volunteers for National Security (Volontaires de la
Sécurité
Nationale--VSN), but more commonly referred to as the tonton macoutes
(derived from the Creole term for a mythological bogeyman). In 1961, only
two years
after Duvalier had established the group, the tonton makouts had more
than twice the power of the army. Over time, the group gained even more
power. While the Presidential Guard secured Duvalier against his enemies
in the capital, the tonton makouts expanded his authority into rural areas.
The tonton makouts never
became a true militia, but they were more than a mere secret police
force. The group's pervasive influence throughout the countryside bolstered
recruitment,
mobilization, and patronage for the regime.
After Duvalier had displaced the established military with his own security force, he employed corruption and intimidation to create his own elite. Corruption--in the form of government rake-offs of industries, bribery, extortion of domestic businesses, and stolen government funds--enriched the dictator's closest supporters. Most of these supporters held sufficient power to enable them to intimidate the members of the old elite who were gradually co-opted or eliminated (the luckier ones were allowed to emigrate).
Duvalier was an astute observer of Haitian life and a student of his
country's history. Although he had been reared in Port-au-Prince, his medical
experiences in the provinces had acquainted him with the everyday concerns
of the people, their predisposition toward paternalistic authority (his
patients referred to him as "Papa Doc," a sobriquet that he relished and
often applied to himself), the ease with which their allegiance could be
bought, and the central role of voodoo in their lives. Duvalier exploited
all of these points, especially voodoo. He studied voodoo practices and
beliefs and was rumored to be a houngan. He related effectively to
houngan and bokò (voodoo sorcerers) throughout the country and
incorporated many of them into his intelligence network and the ranks of
the tonton makouts.
His public recognition of voodoo and its practitioners and his private
adherence to voodoo ritual, combined with his reputed practice of magic
and sorcery,
enhanced his popular persona among the common people (who hesitated
to trifle with a leader who had such dark forces at his command) and served
as a peculiar
form of legitimization of his rapacious and ignoble rule.
Duvalier weathered a series of foreign-policy crises early in his tenure
that ultimately enhanced his power and contributed to his megalomaniacal
conviction that he
was, in his words, the "personification of the Haitian fatherland."
Duvalier's repressive and authoritarian rule seriously disturbed United
States president John F.
Kennedy. The Kennedy administration registered particular concern over
allegations that Duvalier had blatantly misappropriated aid money and that
he intended to
employ a Marine Corps mission to Haiti not to train the regular army
but to strengthen the tonton makouts. Washington acted on these charges
and suspended aid
in mid-1962. Duvalier refused to accept United States demands for strict
accounting procedures as a precondition of aid renewal. Duvalier, claiming
to be
motivated by nationalism, renounced all aid from Washington. At that
time, aid from the United States constituted a substantial portion of the
Haitian national
budget. The move had little direct impact on the Haitian people because
most of the aid had been siphoned off by Duvalierist cronies anyway. Renouncing
the aid, however, allowed the incipient dictator to portray himself as
a principled and lonely opponent of domination by a great power. Duvalier
continued to receive
multilateral contributions. After Kennedy's death in November 1963,
pressure on Duvalier eased, and the United States adopted a policy of grudging
acceptance of the Haitian regime because of the country's strategic location
near communist Cuba.
A more tense and confrontational situation developed in April 1963 between
Duvalier and Dominican Republic president Juan Bosch Gaviño. Duvalier
and Bosch
were confirmed adversaries; the Dominican president provided asylum
and direct support to Haitian exiles who plotted against the Duvalier regime.
Duvalier
ordered the Presidential Guard to occupy the Dominican chancery in
Pétionville in an effort to apprehend an army officer believed to
have been involved in an
unsuccessful attempt to kidnap the dictator's son, Jean-Claude Duvalier,
and daughter, Simone Duvalier. The Dominican Republic reacted with outrage
and
indignation. Bosch publicly threatened to invade Haiti, and he ordered
army units to the frontier. Although observers throughout the world anticipated
military action that would lead to Duvalier's downfall, they saw events
turn in the Haitian tyrant's favor. Dominican military commanders, who
found Bosch's political leanings too far to the left, expressed little
support for an invasion of Haiti. Bosch, because he could not count on
his military, decided to let go of his dream to overthrow the neighboring
dictatorship. Instead, he allowed the matter to be settled by emissaries
of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Resistant to both domestic and foreign challenges, Duvalier entrenched
his rule through terror (an estimated 30,000 Haitians were killed for political
reasons during
his tenure), emigration (which removed the more activist elements of
the population along with thousands of purely economic migrants), and limited
patronage. At
the time of his death in 1971, François Duvalier designated
his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, as Haiti's new leader. To the Haitian elite,
who still dominated the
economy, the continuation of Duvalierism without "Papa Doc" offered
financial gain and a possibility for recapturing some of the political
influence lost under the
dictatorship.
The first few years after Jean-Claude Duvalier's installation as Haiti's ninth president-for-life were a largely uneventful extension of his father's rule. Jean-Claude was a feckless, dissolute nineteen-year-old, who had been raised in an extremely isolated environment and who had never expressed any interest in politics or Haitian affairs. He initially resented the dynastic arrangement that had made him Haiti's leader, and he was content to leave substantive and administrative matters in the hands of his mother, Simone Ovid Duvalier, while he attended ceremonial functions and lived as a playboy.
By neglecting his role in government, Jean-Claude squandered a considerable
amount of domestic and foreign goodwill and facilitated the dominance of
Haitian
affairs by a clique of hard- line Duvalierist cronies who later became
known as the dinosaurs. The public displayed more affection toward Jean-Claude
than they
had displayed for his more formidable father. Foreign officials and
observers also seemed more tolerant toward "Baby Doc," in areas such as
human-rights
monitoring, and foreign countries were more generous to him with economic
assistance. The United States restored its aid program for Haiti in 1971.
Jean-Claude limited his interest in government to various fraudulent
schemes and to outright misappropriations of funds. Much of the Duvaliers'
wealth, which
amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars over the years, came from
the Régie du Tabac (Tobacco Administration). Duvalier used this
"nonfiscal account,"
established decades earlier under Estimé, as a tobacco monopoly,
but he later expanded it to include the proceeds from other government
enterprises and used it
as a slush fund for which no balance sheets were ever kept.
Jean-Claude's kleptocracy, along with his failure to back with actions
his rhetoric endorsing economic and public-health reform, left the regime
vulnerable to
unanticipated crises that were exacerbated by endemic poverty, including
the African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic and the widely publicized outbreak
of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the 1980s. A highly contagious
and fatal disease, ASF plagued pigs in the Dominican Republic in mid-1978.
The United States feared that the disease would spread to North America
and pressured Jean-Claude to slaughter the entire population of Haitian
pigs and to replace them with animals supplied by the United States and
international agencies. The Haitian government complied with this demand,
but it failed to take note of the rancor that this policy produced among
the peasantry. Black Haitian pigs were not only a form of "savings account"
for peasants because they could be sold for cash when necessary, but they
were also a breed of livestock well-suited to the rural environment because
they required neither special care nor special feed. The replacement pigs
required both. Peasants deeply resented this intrusion into their lives
(see Livestock and Fishing , ch. 8).
Initial reporting on the AIDS outbreak in Haiti implied that the country might have been a source for the human immune deficiency virus. This rumor, which turned out to be false, hurt the nation's tourism industry, which had grown during Jean-Claude Duvalier's tenure. Already minimal, public services deteriorated as Jean- Claude and his ruling clique continued to misappropriate funds from the national treasury.
Jean-Claude miscalculated the ramifications of his May 1980 wedding
to Michèle Bennett, a mulatto divorcée with a disreputable
background. (François Duvalier
had jailed her father, Ernest Bennett, for bad debts and other shady
financial dealings.) Although Jean-Claude himself was light-skinned, his
father's legacy of
support for the black middle class and antipathy toward the established
mulatto elite had enhanced the appeal of Duvalierism among the black majority
of the
population. By marrying a mulatto, Jean-Claude appeared to be abandoning
the informal bond that his father had labored to establish. The marriage
also estranged
the old-line Duvalierists in the government from the younger technocrats
whom Jean-Claude had appointed. The Duvalierists' spiritual leader, Jean-Claude's
mother, Simone, was eventually expelled from Haiti, reportedly at the
request of Michèle, Jean-Claude's wife.
The extravagance of the couple's wedding, which cost an estimated US$3
million, further alienated the people. Popular discontent intensified in
response to
increased corruption among the Duvaliers and the Bennetts, as well
as the repulsive nature of the Bennetts' dealings, which included selling
Haitian cadavers to
foreign medical schools and trafficking in narcotics. Increased political
repression added to the volatility of the situation. By the mid-1980s,
most Haitians felt
hopeless, as economic conditions worsened and hunger and malnutrition
spread.
Widespread discontent began in March 1983, when Pope John Paul II visited
Haiti. The pontiff declared that "Something must change here." He went
on to call for
a more equitable distribution of income, a more egalitarian social
structure, more concern among the elite for the well-being of the masses,
and increased popular
participation in public life. This message revitalized both laymen
and clergy, and it contributed to increased popular mobilization and to
expanded political and social
activism.
A revolt began in the provinces two years later. The city of Gonaïves
was the first to have street demonstrations and raids on food-distribution
warehouses. From
October 1985 to January 1986, the protests spread to six other cities,
including Cap Haïtien. By the end of that month, Haitians in the south
had revolted. The most
significant rioting there broke out in Les Cayes.
Jean-Claude responded with a 10 percent cut in staple food prices, the
closing of independent radio stations, a cabinet reshuffle, and a crackdown
by police and
army units, but these moves failed to dampen the momentumof the popular
uprising against the dynastic dictatorship. Jean-Claude's wife and advisers,
intent on
maintaining their profitable grip on power, urged him to put down the
rebellion and to remain in office.
A plot to remove him had been well under way, however, long before the
demonstrations began. The conspirators' efforts were not connected to the
popular
revolt, but violence in the streets prompted Jean-Claude's opponents
to act. The leaders of the plot were Lieutenant General Henri Namphy and
Colonel Williams
Regala. Both had privately expressed misgivings about the excesses
of the regime. They and other officers saw the armed forces as the single
remaining cohesive
institution in the country. They viewed the army as the only vehicle
for an orderly transition from Duvalierism to another form of government.
In January 1986, the unrest in Haiti alarmed United States president
Ronald Reagan. The Reagan administration began to pressure Duvalier to
renounce his rule
and to leave Haiti. Representatives appointed by Jamaican prime minister
Edward Seaga served as intermediaries who carried out the negotiations.
The United
States rejected a request to provide asylum for Duvalier, but offered
to assist with the dictator's departure. Duvalier had initially accepted
on January 30, 1986. The
White House actually announced his departure prematurely. At the last
minute, however, Jean-Claude decided to remain in Haiti. His decision provoked
increased
violence in the streets.
The United States Department of State announced a cutback in aid to
Haiti on January 31. This action had both symbolic and real effect: it
distanced Washington
from the Duvalier regime, and it denied the regime a significant source
of income. By this time, the rioting had spread to Port-au-Prince.
At this point, the military conspirators took direct action. Namphy,
Regala, and others confronted the Duvaliers and demanded their departure.
Left with no bases
of support, Jean-Claude consented. After hastily naming a National
Council of Government (Conseil National de Gouvernement--CNG) made up of
Namphy,
Regala, and three civilians, Jean-Claude and Michèle Duvalier
departed from Haiti on February 7, 1986. They left behind them a country
economically ravaged by
their avarice, a country bereft of functional political institutions
and devoid of any tradition of peaceful self-rule. Although the end of
the Duvalier era provoked much
popular rejoicing, the transitional period initiated under the CNG
did not lead to any significant improvement in the lives of most Haitians.
Although most citizens expressed a desire for democracy, they had no firm
grasp of what the word meant or of how it might be achieved.
***
The English-language historiography for Haiti is fairly rich and diverse.
The two leading comprehensive works are David Nicholls's From Dessalines
to Duvalier:
Race, Colour, and National Independence in Haiti and Written in Blood:
The Story of the Haitian People, 1492-1971 by Robert Debs Heinl and Nancy
Gordon Heinl. Nicholls's book goes into greater depth with regard to
Haiti's sociocultural history, whereas the Heinls' volume is a more straightforward
account, full
of fascinating and useful detail. Another worthwhile general work is
Robert Rotberg's Haiti: The Politics of Squalor. Rayford Logan's Haiti
and the Dominican
Republic examines Haiti's history in the larger context of European
and United States competition in the Western Hemisphere. The period of
the United States
occupation is chronicled effectively in Hans Schmidt's The United States
Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934. Bernard Diederich and Al Burt's Papa Doc:
The Truth
About Haiti Today provides a riveting, although somewhat anecdotal,
chronicle of François Duvalier's rule. In a similar vein, Elizabeth
Abbott's Haiti: The
Duvaliers and Their Legacy gives the reader a feel for the behind-the-scenes
workings of the dynastic dictatorship.