Photos

Here is a picture on Le Nouveliste about the Massacre of April 26, 1986 by Francois Duvalier.

Massacre of April 26, 1986 by Francois Duvalier is also known by the name of "massacre of Fort-Dimanche" or Fort Death. On that date, the soldiers opened fire on a peaceful procession that started from the Sacre Coeur church for Fort Dimanche in commemoration of the events of April 26, 1963. Twenty years before, on the same day, Tontons Macoutes, carried out a series of assassination of the families who were alleged opponents to Papa Doc Duvalier, after a failed attempt to kidnap his son Jean-Claude (Baby Doc). On April 26, 1963, over a hundred people were killed and several dozens of people were taken to the Fort-Dimanche prison and later they all disappeared, never came back. Twenty years later, when the crowd assembled in front of Fort Dimanche, the army fired upon them. As per collective memory, number of victims was 'fifteen' and according to Human Rights Watch Report, the number was 'eight'.

Permalink | Comments

Here is a picture of Corp des Leopard In Haiti, Haiti Military.

During the rule of Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) the Leopard Corps In Haiti was created in 1971 with United States' assistance as a "counter-insurgency" force to provide support with a relatively modern tool for responding to country's internal threats and to balance two powers between the Haitian Armed Forces and the Tonton Macoutes (became the Volontaires de la Securite Nationale or VSN after 1962 with around 9,000 members). However, the Leopards were described by human rights investigators as "particularly brutal in dealing with civilians" (its activities were often suppressed). Some of Haiti's subsequent paramilitary leaders got their start in the Leopard's camouflage outfit. James Byers, the CEO of Miami based Aerotrade who was in charge to train the leopards, had later admitted before camera in mid 1980's, that Aerotrade did this under CIA contract. The force, consisting 700 members, was Duvalier's a personal security force where the participating members required a higher education level to join. 'Corps des Léopards' was disbanded within a month of an attempted coup in 1989.

Permalink | Comments

Here is a picture of Francois Duvalier and Haile Selassie Emperor of Ethiopia.

Haile Selassie I (23 July 1892-- 27 August 1975), a member of the Solomonic dynasty was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He was also known as the King of Kings. He served as the Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity. His internationalist view helped Ethiopia to become a charter member of the United Nations. He helped to promote multilateralism and collective security and in 1936, at the League of Nation, he condemned the use of chemical weapons by Italy against Ethiopia. His millions of supporters of Rastafari movement (an Abrahamic belief) used to worship him as the returned messiah of the Bible. This King of Kings met the President for Life, when he visited Haiti in April 1966. He was the only foreign Head of State to visit Haiti during the rule of Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc). Like Haile Selassie, President Duvalier was also a patron of the Black Nationalist platform, and a supporter of the Pan-African model of excellence.

Permalink | Comments

General Raoul Cédras going into exile.

The coup of Haitian military that ousted Jean Aristide from his rightful office in 1991 was led by Army Lieutenant General Raoul Cedras. Between 30 September 1991 and 15 June 1993, the real political authority in Haiti rested with the military junta headed by Raoul Cédras and Michel François. During this period, the American military officers and civilian officials provided lucrative contracts to several wealthy Haitian families who were behind the coup or backed the three-year military regime. The U.S offered Raoul Cedras a million dollar-plus "golden parachute benefit" plus good compensation for his three houses, to resign and go into exile. However, Raoul delayed his departure for a much better deal. Cédras was a member of the US-trained Leopard Corps; he was chosen by the US and France to be in charge of security for the Haitian general election, 1990-1991 and he subsequently became Commander-in-Chief of the army of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He was also one important source for the CIA, providing reports critical of President Aristide. With United States intervention, Gen Raoul Cedras agreed to resign on 10 October 1994, paving the way for Aristide's return. To avoid arrest, Cedras fled to Panama on October 13, 1994.

Permalink | Comments

Here are some picture of the massacre of La Scierie in the town of Saint-Marc.

A few days before the departure of Aristide on February 29, 2004 following a coup d'état, about 44 Lavalas opponents were killed. Seven people were arrested, including former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, former Deputy Amanus Mayette and former Interior Minister and present Provisional President Jocelerme Privert. Most people of St Marc, including the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR-Haiti) insisted that Prime Minister Neptune was responsible for the genocide. NCHR described that as-- "cruel, horrific, savage and barbaric" "crime against humanity"; it was "genocide. However, the former Prime Minister Neptune had objected to the term 'massacre', because he considered "that was a fight between two different sides. Ramicose, which was an organization close to the opposition, fought with Bale Wouze, which was a popular organization belonging to Lavalas." However, no sufficient evidence was found, none of the accused were convicted, nor even tried in connection with the La Scierie incident. In a recent interview on Radio Magic 9, the Provisional President Jocelerme Privert rejected every allegation when he was asked about his involvement in the massacre of La Scierie in Saint-Marc town.

Permalink | Comments

This is one of the classics in Haiti Election. The famous slogan "Vote Pre Pou Loin ka vini" by Rene Preval.

When Jean-Bertrand Aristide became the President in 1991, hundreds of thousand Haitians believed him as a prophet. The former leftist priest made promise for a radical shake up of the political and judicial systems. He also promised that he would stop the U.S from sucking blood of the Haitian people. However, very soon his malpractices and corruptions came into light. Even the public treasury was pillaged. The Haitian people were shocked to learn that the former priest was an alleged father of six illegitimate children, with five different women. Aristide was Haiti's first democratically elected president and three times he held the President's office (7 February 1991 - 29 September 1991, 12 October 1994 - 7 February 1996 and 7 February 2001 - 29 February 2004) until he was ousted in a 2004 coup d'état for the second time after September 1991 and was forced into a seven-year exile to Central African Republic. René Garcia Préval is a Haitian politician and agronomist who was twice President of the Republic of Haiti (February 7, 1996 - February 7, 2001 and May 14, 2006 - May 14, 2011). In 1991, when Aristide was elected president, Préval became prime minister. Following the 1991 military coup, he fled into exile with Aristide. However, he later succeeded Aristide in 1996. As a President, Preval managed very modest achievements during his first term. His welfare projects targeting poor earned him the prefix "Ti" (Little) René. In 2001, Preval became Haiti's first elected president to leave office after a full term. During his second term as President, his most efforts were hampered by the rising cost of basic foodstuffs, deadlock in the legislature, and the deteriorating condition of law and order. As a President, he also encountered the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Permalink | Comments

Here are two children in the back of a car of a gang leader in the slum of Cite Soleil. These children are heavily armed . This picture was taken from a video filmed in Haiti in 2004 before the departure of Former President Jean Bertrand Aristide to exile. He is part of the group known as Chimè Cite Soleil.

In 2004, the United Nations termed the slums of Port-au-Prince and Cité Soleil as "the most dangerous place on earth." The outstation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004 left a large number of 9 mm weapons, 38's, American-style machine guns, M-14's and hand grenades in the hands of his supporters. As a consequence of this, regular exchange of ammunition among the gangs and with the UN peacekeeping force was a routine matter. Following Aristide's exit, one study found that about 8,000 people in Port-au-Prince alone were murdered and over 35,000 sexually assaulted. Cité Soleil is an extremely impoverished and densely populated commune within the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. The streets here are controlled by various gangs, some more violent than others. The gangs operate here like secret army. Even children here carry guns which are smuggled from the U.S and South America. They have grenade launchers, laser-guided rifles and sniper stuff; and even today, day by day, it is getting worse. It is a dangerous place on earth where the guns rule

Permalink | Comments

Le Petit Samedi Soir newspaper say its glory days during the reign of Jean Claude Duvalier.

Le Petit Samedi Soir (Small Saturday Night) is a weekly newspaper in French language published from Port-au-Prince that began in 1975 during the reign of Baby Doc. The journal came in to light following the relaxation of press censorship in a policy popularly known as 'Jeanclaudisme'. 'Jeanclaudisme' was developed in Haiti as a result of external pressure from the U.S President Jimmy Carter's administration. When Ady Jean-Gardy joined the company as its Cultural Affairs Director, he along with a team of twenty-year-old dynamic, courageous and curious journalists, transformed the weekly journal into one of the important intellectual, cultural and political Haitian newspaper. During the rule of papa Duvalier, the printing shops of four major Haitian newspapers-- Haiti Miroir, Le Patriote, Le Matin and Independence were bombed and destroyed. Another conservative newspaper la Phalange, controlled by the Roman Catholic Church was closed down in 1961. The press was muzzled. For hard news, Haitians had to rely on the radio stations like Voice of America and Radio Havana or a New York based paper Haiti- Observateur. However, since 1972, the U.S President Jimmy Carter's human right policy, to some extent, made the Haitian government's repression policy restrained.

Permalink | Comments

Here is a picture of Voodoo Priest Joseph Fritzner Coma who was elected to become the new Ati Nationale.

On Saturday, February 27, 2016, the National Confederation of Haitian voodoo (KNVA) elected the hougan Fritzner Coma Joseph Augustin as the new Ati Nationale. Following the deaths of the first ATI Max Beauvoir on September 12, 2015 and his successor, Alcémat Zamor on 30 December 2015, the voodoo sector in Haiti was divided between two groups, Augustin Saint-Cloud and camp mambo Euvonie Georges Auguste-- both of them were aiming the throne. Joseph Fritzner Coma secured the highest office of voodoo by defeating two other contenders-- singer Carole Demesmin and Saint-Cloud. Saint-Cloud had held the coveted position during the interim period since the death of Zamor in a car accident. Joseph Coma won the poll by securing 23 out of 40 votes. During his speech, Mr. Coma has promised to bring some freshness to the voodoo practice and culture. He has also mentioned that during his 37 years of practicing voodoo, he had never harbored the dream of becoming an ATI. He will do his best to organize the institution of voodoo, to protect and defend all Haitians.

Permalink | Comments

Here is a picture of Jean Claude Duvalier and Michele Bennett as they are leaving Haiti to go into exile.

Although Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc), replaced a few older cabinet members with younger men, instituted budgetary and judicial reforms, released press censorship, released some political prisoners, he had ruled the country with a bloody brutality. He was a hedonist who always strives to maximize pleasure. When political repression and a worsening economy set off violent unrest and a series of riots broke out across Haiti, fearing for life, Duvalier fled to France on a temporary asylum on 7 February 1986 in a U.S cargo plane accompanying his family and 17 associates. When France rejected his appeal for political asylum and asked him to find another place of refuge, he found no other country to accept him. On 27 May 1980, Duvalier married Michèle Bennett Pasquet in a record extravagance manner. With his divorce from Michel in 1993, he lost most of his wealth and had to live a modest life in his remaining part of exile. However, he had supporters who founded the François Duvalier Foundation in 2006 and they used to promote the positive aspects of the Duvalier presidency while he was in exile. On 16 January 2011, during the presidential election campaign, Baby Doc came back to Haiti after 25 years of exile. He announced that, his return is not to join politics, but to help to reconstruct the country. He died in his home of a heart attack on October 4, 2014.

Permalink | Comments