Haiti's Savior from a Political Prisoner - Robert 'Boby' Duval

At the age of 22, Robert 'Boby' Duval, a popular soccer player sat as Haiti's political prisoner in a jail cell. He knew one thing and that was, his country required a change soon. He was imprisoned for one and half years for playing a major role in the Democratic Movement which could affect Haiti positively.

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He Paid a Price for Standing Up To His Belief
For standing up for whatever he believed, he had to pay the price of an illustrious career in soccer. He tried a lot to end the Haitian struggle and remained dedicated to athletics and his lifelong love for the soccer game. By providing a career in soccer he has plans to bring in a positive change in Haiti.

He played sports in his younger days and grew up at an eastern suburb, Petion-Ville of Haiti's capital. To get a better opportunity in life he later shifted to Puerto Rico at the age of ten years. He excelled in track, baseball and basketball games and accordingly was pushed to play at both the junior varsity and varsity levels.

Fame Gained In the Soccer Game
In Pennsylvania he attended the Valley Forge Military Academy where as an athlete in three sports, he earned six letters from the varsity. He got a scholarship to Nichols College later. At Loyola University in Montreal, he ended his college career.

In soccer he reached one championship and two finals with his team and thus got an induction to the Loyola Soccer Hall of Fame. He played for the Violette Athletic Club, the number one team, on returning home to Haiti. He played soccer at the highest levels in 1973 and 1974.

Duval's Efforts to Revive Haiti
However in Haiti he was dismayed because citizens had been ravaged by death, crime, sickness and violence under Jean-Claude Duvalier and Francois Duvalier's rule when around fifty thousand Haitians died. He opposed the Baby Doc's policies which led to his imprisonment and discontinuation of an athletic career. During US President Jimmy Carter's fight to end the Haitian unrest, he was released.

To revive Haiti, Duval joined the Democratic Movement in an effort for the country to move in the right direction, which did not happen. On the behalf of political prisoners, he fought for one decade and then left politics. Via soccer, his biggest passion in life, he then started influencing a positive change in the country.

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Read more: Prison, Petion-Ville, soccer, Boby Duval, Jimmy Carter, Violette Club, Robert Duval, Political Prisoner, Violette Athletic Club, People

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