duvalier - Haiti Observer Blog

Born in 1950, Michele Bennett was the daughter of a Haitian businessman who owned 50,000 acres of land, where he mostly grew coffee. She moved to New York when she was 15 and stayed there until she completed her school from St. Mary's School in Peekskill, New York. Her first job was with a slipper company, where she worked as a secretary.

Her first marriage was with the son of a mulatto officer in 1973, a lock from which Michele gave birth to two children. Michele's first marriage ended five years later, in 1978, post which she took up a career in Public Relations. Her first stint was with a classy hotel called Habitation LeClerc.

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Following the statement made by President Michel Martelly in his message during ---- where he said that it was and it is still his objective to have all the former Haitian President to meet. Specifically, President Michel Martelly referred to Jean Claude Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide whom he considers represent the two political forces in the country. Former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier replied to the president by saying that he is all for it.

On Wednesday, May 15, 2013, Jean Claude Duvalier wrote in his Facebook Page:

I carefully followed the intervention of the President of the Republic on the occasion of May 14, 2013. And I have learned with satisfaction his wish to meet with former heads of State.
Besides, I had upon my return to the country publicly expressed this wish. I remain convinced of the urgent need to unite and that only a national consensus can enable us to overcome countless challenges. Haiti First! Haiti forever! Vive Haiti! Long live the people of Haiti!

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Francois-Nicolas Duvalier, son of Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and grandson of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, published an editorial in Le Nouvelliste, just days before the 50th anniversary of the massacre of innocent citizens of Haiti by Papa Doc. The young Francois-Nicolas Duvalier published this editorial with a hope or re-wrapping the legacy of Papa Doc. Nicolas Duvalier works in President Michel Martelly's National Palace. The editorial was published on April 19 and was titled, 'In memoriam Dr. Francois Duvalier, President for Life'.

The editorial stated that Papa Doc actually valued the interests of the Haitians and used his sharp mind to defend the values of the Republic of Haiti with utmost dedication and integrity. Nicolas Duvalier also stated in the editorial that Papa Doc was a great nationalist, a prominent politician and a dynamic and enterprising head of the nation who had an image similar to those who built the world's first black republic.

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Many people played a hand in the 1991 coup that saw the elected president of the Republic of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, removed from office, few with as much importance as army colonel and the then Haitian police chief, Joseph-Michel François. He was born on May 8, 1957 and went to military school at Fort Bragg in the United States.

The skills he acquired there would serve him well as part of the oppressive government, which ruled for over three years under Raoul Cédras. During this time, Michel Francois headed up the secret police and oversaw, or facilitated, many human rights violations, murders and other heinous, counter-judiciary acts.

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Few people guilty of the most heinous crimes in Haiti's history have received due punishment. It would seem that justice for the wrongs done to people in the country, blatantly orchestrated and performed by those in power, is a thing to be hoped for but never truly achieved.

When Luc Désir was charged with his crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor in the late 1980's, it seemed as though all the people he'd tortured, their families who suffered and those whose lives he'd brutally ended, all as the head of Francois Duvalier's Secret Police, would finally see restitution. It's been speculated that hundreds of people imprisoned by him disappeared without trace, the true nature of his dealings with the imprisoned unknown until audio recordings he made of his torture sessions became public fodder.

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The leading attorney for Former Dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, Mr Reynold Georges, told the Press Monday (3-4.2013) that his client was hospitalized for an unspecified illness. This is just after the former Haitian Dictator testified last week in court. Lawyer Reynold Georges put the blame for his current illness to his last court appearance stating that Duvalier was not feeling well before the Thursday court hearing and his doctor had advised him not to testify.

As he was defending his government during his last court hearing, the 61-year-old Jean Claude Duvalier Duvalier looked ill and appeared to have lost weight. He periodically wiped his forehead with a white cloth. If confirmed, this hospitalization would be the second time Duvalier has sought medical treatment in the past two years. Two months after his 2011 return, he was hospitalized due to unspecified chest pains. Some said he has cervical osteoarthritis which a degeneration of the spinal column in the neck area.

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The former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier did not play his cards well with the head of the court of appeals, magistrate Jean Joseph Lebrun. He defied the judge order to appear in court on Thursday to face charges of corruption and human-rights violations during his 15-year rule and did not show up, sending his attorney instead, Reynold Georges. However, the judge who was not happy about that on Thursday summoned Jean-Claude Duvalier to appear in court.

Jean-Claude Duvalier was scheduled to attend a hearing to determine whether he should again face charges for human rights abuses committed during the 15 years of his regime.

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Colonel Octave Cayard, on the morning of April 24, 1970, led a section of the Haitian Coast Guard into a rebellion against the Duvalier government and a naval attack on Port-au-Prince. In a United States memorandum sent to Washington, the event was chronicled by Viron P. Vaky, who wrote that the revolting guards had acted in desperation after those plotting a coup against the then president, Cayard included, had gotten wind that the controversial leader was in pursuit of them.

At 9am Colonel Octave Cayard declared in a telephone call that he would capture the Coast Guard's largest vessels. By sixteen minutes to twelve a round was fired, but landed short of the Palace. Though a subsequent ten rounds were fired, Vaky reported that things were 'reasonably calm' and that there was no sign of additional forces joining the erstwhile rebellion as ground troops appeared patriotic to the government.

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Tonton Macoutes, a militia force put together in 1959 by President François Duvalier, translated, means Uncle Gunnysack, referring to a bogeyman that captures children in a gunnysack and eats them for breakfast. Duvalier created the militia, because he felt threatened by the Haitian army. When his political foes attempted to oust him, Duvalier broke up the army and scattered the police. He then had all the Military High Command generals assassinated.

Tonton Macoutes wore a uniform of straw hats, blue denim shirts, and sunglasses, and were armed with machetes. It's a chilling image, because--if not for the machetes-- one would think they were heading to a picnic or barbeque, which renders them all the more sinister-looking, an appearance that is the personification of pure evil.

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An unfamiliar aspect of Baby Doc's corrupt rule has received little attention until now. Haitian watercolorist, Jean-Jacques Audubon, bird-life interpreter, became victim to a forgery when fraudulent postage stamps were circulated world-wide as his watercolors. A Haitian attorney and avid stamp collector, with a practiced eye, made the discovery. He notified Duvalier he doubted the stamps were Audubon's original watercolors.

Duvalier reluctantly held an open-court proceeding, and an expert witness gave testimony the stamps were the work of art forgers. Members of Duvalier's government pleaded guilty, convicted and incarcerated. Stamp collectors felt justice was done, and observers said the legal proceedings were an example of a fearless justice system.

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