Francois and Jean Claude Duvalier
A Curse on Haiti
Francois Duvalier
Born April 14, 1907 in Port-au-prince, Haiti. He attended medical school and was made director general of the national health service. In his early days he did work to help control tropical disease earning him the nickname Papa Doc. He had the power of the military and his entire staff were loyal members of his personal paramilitary. They tortured all who opposed him. He once had 19 of his closest followers executed because he thought they would betray him. this paranoia made for cruel and twisted regime. He preformed voodoo curses on his enemies changed the Lord's prayer to be about himself. He also allegedly gave his enemies bathes in sulfuric acid and order that all black dogs be shot because he was told his enemy had transformed into one. This was ruthless and as crazy as the salem which hunt. Francois constantly repressed the people. He cut off foreign contact and isolated Haiti for 14 years. He also financially leeched of the Haitian people to the point that they became one of the poorest nations in the world.
Jean-Claude Duvalier
Born July 3, 1951 in port-au-prince. He took over his father's regime when Francois was nearing the end of his life. Baby Doc as he was called took office at the age 20 and instituted many of the same policies as his father before him. After 15 years of rule their was a revolt by the people which led to his exile.
Haiti's Francois Duvalier Dictatorship (1971)
Haiti's Francois Duvalier Dictatorship (1971)
Duvalier brought Haiti into economic ruin from which there may be no recovery. He used his militant force to control the people and ruthlessly crush any and all opposition. Of course Duvalier did not start out as a bad guy in fact he was a doctor working for the good of the people. He was a father figure to them. He was some one to look to with respect and admiration. This is typical of all dictorial rigimes.
Duvalier the good doctor who became a villain
Francois Duvalier's story was somewhat of a comic book cliche. It starts with a man, a doctor who was very well liked and and who did work to benefit the masses in this case working to stop the spread of diseases in his country. But then something happened and suddenly the guy became a crazy doctor bent on destroying his empty using cruel and strange methods he also had a private force which he used to terrorized the masses. And they say the villain never wins in the end. Unfortunately for the people of Haiti there was no superhero coming to their rescue. Duvalier did not receive punishments for his wrongs in fact he lived out his life and even was able to pass on his crown of tyranny to his son. So there was also the cliche junior to terrorize the people in his fathers place.
During the evil doctors reign he committed all your typical villainous acts. He murdered, tortured and stole from the people. He was treacherous but managed to maintain the support of the people. Hitting upon the prominent well to do cliche. I thought this type of stuff was supposed to happen i comics not in reality. Hearing these stories I kept thinking why can't I find a good source that isn't spewing this ridiculousness until it go to the point that i Realized none of the source were being ridiculous in fact they were all concurrent with one another.
What made the Duvaliers' dictatorship have in common with other dictatorships what made it different?