vsn - Haiti Observer Blog

Francois Duvalier, the 40th President of Haiti, had a number of people who he used during his regime to impose his rules and methods of running his own government. A rule of guns, military power along with personality cult and voodoo, Francois Duvalier was responsible for the death of over 30000 Haitians. This not only struck fear and horror in the hearts of the people of Haiti when he was alive, it is something that Haiti has not recovered from ever since.

One of the significant figures of Francois Duvalier's regime was Madame Max Adolphe. Every leader has a group of deputies under him/her to take care of nationalistic duties. Madame Max Adolphe was one such individual under Duvalier's reign. She was what Duvalier, during his presidency, called his "right hand".

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Dressed in a black suit and sporting dark sunglasses, Clement Barbot instigated fear wherever he went. Not with just his presence, the mere sound of the DKW jeep he rode on created a sense of fright among people. As the chief and controller of the National Security Volunteers, earlier called the Tonton Macoutes or the "hooded men", Clement Barbot was much more than just a force to reckon with during the Francois Duvalier regime.

When Francois Duvalier was proclaimed President for a term period of six years, Clement Barbot was then the self-proclaimed "Chief of the Secret Police". The team that was functioning under him was not just the military personnel. His team was a good mix of both military personnel and civilians. Clement Barbot, along with his Tonton Macoutes, gave people three alternatives other than silence and obedience. Those were to end up in jail, get themselves killed and flee the country. It was this reign of terror that struck fear in the hearts of people.

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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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During the Government of Jean-Claude Duvalier, he attempted to balance the power between the existing Armed forces and created as a result created a new military force, the Leopards Corps. The Haitian Armed Forces, also known as Forces Armees d'Haïti, (FAD'H) and the Tontons Macoutes, Volontaires de la Securite Nationale (VSN) were the two main military powers in the country before that. The VSN was an informal force and accused for many cases of abuse. The government of Jean Claude Duvalier was under pressure from the international community to decrease the level of abuse. The creation of the new force, the Leopard Corps, was designated to take care of the problem.

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This video will definitely mean something to many Haitians. It was a time when Haiti was under the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier. Some people have positive memories of the Duvalier the same way some have negative memories. For some people who will be watching this video, it will remind them of a time when things were good for them in Haiti. However for many, this can only remind them of abuse, repression, death and exile.

During the Duvalier era many names became popular; some in a noble aspect; but many, in unscrupulous ways. Some of the names during both Francois Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier that became famous include the following:

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