Francois Duvalier - Haiti Observer Blog

Baby Doc Jean Claude Duvalier was the son of Papa Doc Francois Duvalier, the 40th Haitian president who was a famous dictator and had once proclaimed to be the President for life. Jean Claude Duvalier took over the throne after his father's death in 1971 at the age of 19 years. He remains to be the youngest president ever to have reigned over any state or country.

After his rise to power, Baby Doc Jean Claude Duvalier initiated some changes which were drawing Haiti closer to democratic leadership. He released some of the political prisoners who had been jailed, replaced the cabinet members with younger ones and made press quite independent. However, he was no better than his father as he pinned down any opposition and appointment of major government officials were still under his control. His mother, Simone, also offered vital political support to ensure that his son remained in power. To some extent, it worked out well as Baby Doc Jean Claude Duvalier managed to survive on the throne till 1986.

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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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April 26th is an infamous day in Haiti's history. Two events of senseless violence, 23 years apart, occurred on that date. In 1963, mass killings of soldiers and their loved ones by Haitian National Police (HNP) were ordered by François Duvalier, in advance of son Jean-Claude's planned abduction. In 1986 at a commemoration to honor victims and families' murders and maiming, another mass killing occurred.

The father-son Duvalier regime was one of the cruelest in Haiti's history. Blood-thirsty monster François dispatched death squads, the Ton-Ton Macoutes, to kill any citizen suspected of being opposed to his government. People would sometimes disappear at night, never to be seen again. Others were murdered in plain sight of a terrified public. When François received word oppositional factions of the HNP were planning to kidnap son, Jean-Claude, he took swift and retaliatory action. His police torched occupied family homes. In other instances, they separated children from families, imprisoning relatives, tormenting and murdering them.

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One of Haiti's infamous leaders, François Duvalier, ruled the country for fourteen long years of tyranny. With his death in 1971, it gave way to a new era of governance of hope and reform, especially with the United States' concern and involvement. The late "Papa Doc" was succeeded by his then nineteen-year-old son Jean-Claude Duvalier.

His term as Haiti's president from 1971 to 1986 was known for his strong ties with the United States, as well as the reforms he has done after his father's brutal policies. Despite these, Jean-Claude, who has been nicknamed "Baby Doc", had a similar distasteful leadership like his father's.

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On April 14, 1907, Francois Duvalier was born in Port-Au-Prince in Haiti. His father was once a school teacher and later, he became a judge in a municipal court. He went to Haitian National University where he graduated with a degree in Medicine in 1934. He went to advance his studies in Michigan University from 1944 to 1945. In Haiti, he was a man who liked to embrace the Haitian culture and was a leader of Griot Movement in 1930s. After graduating at Michigan, he returned back to Haiti and was appointed as the Minister for Health and Labor under President Dumarsias Estime.

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Looking at President Michel Martelly distributing gifts to those who could not afford to is truly a good thing. The president has been able to make Christmas for many families a little brighter. Many received gifts such as toys for the children, envelops with cash, motorcycles and even brand new cars for a few who were the luckiest.

I know this is good and specially at the end of the year it is probably a good thing to do for the people who have been through so much. Too many people in Haiti had to deal with so many bad situation for at least the past two years; namely. the 2010 earthquake, Cholera, poverty, insecurity, health issues, and much more.

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We observed that during his first official press conference since returning to Haiti, Jean-Claude Duvalier referred to the Airport in Port-au-Prince as "Francois Duvalier Airport".

AIRPORT HISTORY:
The current airport in Port-au-Prince was built in 1965 and Named "Francois Duvalier Airport". After Jean-Claude Duvalier was exiled in France in 1986, the name of the airport was changed to "Port-au-Prince airport". It was again renamed in 2003 to "Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport.

That was the video where in his press conference, Jean-Claude Duvalier referred to the current airport in Port-au-Prince not as "Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport" as the new official name to the airport since Jean-Claude went on exile but rather by its original name: Francois Duvalier International Airport.

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Magloire was born on July 19, 1907 in Cap Haitien, Haiti. He gained his leadership skills from his mother, General Magloire Rose. He joined the Haitian army in 1930 but due to his hard work he was promoted to Police Chief of Port-au- Prince in 1944. In 1946 he took part in coup against President Elie Lescot. His ability to fight for his rights made him to become the president in 1950 after removing President Dumarsais Estime from power.

He was a great leader who improved tourism in Haiti through maintaining good relations with US and European tourists. Magloire used the money the country got from coffee export to develop Haiti by repairing towns, building roads, public building and dam building. He was a social being who cerebrated and held parties with Haitians always. He empowered women's suffrage institutions.

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