haitian military force

Paul Magloire, an army colonel who in 1950 became president of Haiti.

Paul Magloire was born in 1907 in Quartier Morin, the son of a high-ranking military officer in Haiti's army. Magloire was ousted by a coup and replaced by François "Doc" Duvalier.

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (born on October 24, 1891) was a Dominican politician, soldier and dictator, who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. Trujillo was killed by a group of rebels determined to topple his regime. He was Dominican President between 1930-1938 and 1942-1952. In 1937, he ordered the massacre that took more than 35,000 Haitian lives on charges of invading the Dominican Republic. It was launched by the army with common criminals released for these purposes against Haitians living in the Dominican Republic's northwestern frontier and in certain parts of the adjacent Cibao region. It was a shameful and brutal event that harmed his prestige in the entire world. Punishment for the atrocity amounted to an agreement in which a paltry US $525,000 was paid to the Haitian government. Haitian President Élie Lescot put the death toll at 12,168; in 1953, the Haitian historian Jean Price-Mars cited 12,136 deaths and 2,419 injuries. In 1975, Joaquín Balaguer, the Dominican Republic's interim Foreign Minister at the time of the massacre, put the number of dead at 17,000. Other estimates compiled by the Dominican historian Bernardo Vega went as high as 35,000. Before the massacre, Trujillo made his intentions towards the Haitian community clear in a short speech which he delivered on 2 October 1937 at a dance in his honor in Dajabón. He accused Haitians on charges of thefts of cattle, provisions, fruits, etc., and thus they were preventing Dominican people to live a peaceful life.

Trujillo was a man of bad temper, but had many fabricated justifications of such mass genocide. With the crash of world markets and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the price of sugar fell drastically, sugar production was cut, and the Haitian worker was no longer in demand in the Dominican Republic. In 1931, Trujillo took power and began to deport Haitians living in the Dominican Republic using discriminatory and inhuman policy to the Haitians. However, when in the 1950s, when the economic situation became reversed, he took a different tone because, by then he had accumulated about 75% of the Dominican sugar mills and had forced many U.S. competitors out of business. To maximize his profit, he turned to the Haitian workers. In 1952, Trujillo and Haiti's President, Paul Magloire, signed a bilateral agreement in which the Dominican Republic bought 16,500 Haitian workers directly from the Haitian government. These migratory Haitian sugar cane cutters were kept in wooden barracks where there was no running water, no electricity, and no bathrooms; the workers were not allowed to leave except to cut sugar cane. Armed guards from the sugar companies kept close watch on them. However, the Haitian government received compensation in selling these men; the money never trickled down into the worker's hands.

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Here is a picture of General Paul Magloire being decorated by Haitian President Dumarsais Estimé

Magloire was from the rising, black middle-class in Haiti. "Kanson Fé" or "Iron Pants"), as he was known, Magloire overthrew the disastrous regime of President Elie Lescot in 1946. He later allowed the election of a liberal black president, Dumarsais Estimé. When President Dumarsais Estimé, tried to extend his term of office in 1950, with the help of a local elite, Magloire ousted him and took power.

Paul Magloire ("Kanson Fé) being Decorated by President Dumarsais Estimé
Paul Eugène Magloire (July 19, 1907 - July 12, 2001) was a Haitian general's son. He joined the army in 1930 and became Police Chief of Port-au-Prince in 1944. In 1946, he participated in a successful coup against President Élie Lescot. In 1950, while he was serving as an army general, he ousted President Dumarsais Estimé with the help of a local elite and installed himself as ruler.

Before the long dictatorship of the Duvaliers which took the country back again in a period of oppression, his period of rule as president between 1950 and 1956 is marked as a period of unusual peace and efforts at modernization. Many consider Magloire's period as Haiti's golden age - during his era, tourism reached at its peak and Haitian coffee exports drew high prices. He refurbished towns and built roads, a cathedral, public square, the country's first major dam and other infrastructure projects and cultivated good relations with the Dominican Republic. Attempts were made to invite foreign investments and implement economic and social planning. Women were given voting power and direct popular election of the president was introduced.

However, the good days ended in 1954 when Haiti was hit by Hurricane Hazel. The hurricane inflicted heavy damage on the economy, relief funds were stolen, and Magloire's popularity fell. After two years, he was ousted by the military and went into exile in New York. When François Duvalier took the presidency, he stripped Magloire of his Haïtian citizenship. At the end of Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, when Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) fled to France, Magloire returned to Haiti. He was an unofficial adviser to Henri Namphy, who briefly ruled Haiti in 1988. It was a mark of appreciation for his past deed to the country.

The mulattos were happy under the reign of Magloire because their shameless privilege and racism received patronage and reached the apogee of their power, and Magloire's tough stand (Kanson Fé) with the mulattos took them to a height of command and enjoyment. He restored the elites to the prominence.

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Himmler Rebu unsuccessful coup d'etat against Prosper Avril

In april, 1989, Rebels surrendered control of Port-au-Prince's airport. It was later found out that Haiti was once again in a middle of a Coup D'Etat. Lt. Col. Himmler Rebu, commander of the Leopards Battalion, Col. Phillipe Biamby and Col. Leonce Qualo were given safe passage to the United States.

Three army officers who tried to overthrow the country's leader, Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril were arrested but later, they were driven by military escort to the Dominican border on their way to the United States on April 4, 1989. These three officers were Lt. Col. Himmler Rebu (38 years old in 1989), commander of the Leopards Battalion; Col. Phillipe Biamby (36), commander of the presidential guard, and Col. Leonce Qualo (35), an administrative officer at army headquarters. Some loyal soldiers of Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril rescued the Lt. General as he was being driven away to be deported. General Avril's wife, Marie-Ange, and her mother were taken captive during the coup with the general, but were released within an hour. The government freed these three soldiers of the failed coup attempt from prison as it bowed to pressure from the mutinous soldiers who held General Avril's one of the four sons as hostage. These three army officers were associated with Jean-Claude Duvalier before he was deposed in 1986.

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Here is a picture of Guy Philippe celebrating after he led the 2004 coup d'état against Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Guy Philippe (February 29, 1968) is a Haitian politician, former Tonton Macoutes leader and a presidential candidate (Front for National Reconstruction, a guerrilla group) in the Haitian General Election, 2006 who led the 2004 Haitian coup d'état that ousted Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Philippe was a former Haitian Police Chief, trained by U.S Special Forces in Ecuador in the early 1990s and he was once wanted by the United States for smuggling cocaine. In the year 2000, he was accused of masterminding a coup and was subsequently removed from his post as police chief of Cap-Haïtien and Philippe fled to the Dominican Republic. In February 2004, he returned from the DR, met former militia leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain to join the 2004 Haitian coup d'état against president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

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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.

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Here is a picture of some former military of FADH in the streets of Port-au-Prince in February, 2016.

Haitian army was disbanded by former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1995, because of their notorious record of toppling Haitian governments since the country's independence two centuries earlier. Ironically, Aristide himself was twice ousted in coups; last and the second time, he was toppled by a US-backed military coup back in 2004. In last November, President Martelly and Prime Minister Evans Paul through a decree, the "Conseil Des Ministres", energized the former army men by taking steps to revive the armed forces. A Defence Minister was named, unit of military engineers was recreated, and some recruits were sent to Ecuador for training. Jean Fednel Lafalaise, a former sergeant in his 60s told Reuters, we need a commander-in-chief and a high command at the head of the military so that we can function normally. Earlier, President Martelly has repeatedly pledged that the army would be revived to protect the border, coastlines and the country's few remaining forests. However, following the election debacle, the ex-military people were seen rallying in support of both the outgoing President Michel Martelly and his hand-picked candidate Jovenel Moïse for the next presidential race. While driving through the capital in convoys, some of them were waving weapons and firing into the air.

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Here is a picture where an Ex Haitian soldier became victim during an anti-government demonstrators.

Martelly was due to leave his office within February 7th, but the squabbled politicians of the country failed to complete the recent election process with a runoff and elect a successor for the outgoing President Martelly. Some of the weak opposition leaders are demanding the comeback of former President Aristide as an interim leader as a replacement. We might remember that Aristide disbanded the Haitian army in 1995 in an attempt to end the military dominance over the Haitian politicians, because it had records of toppling governments since the Haitian independence two centuries earlier. Aristide was twice ousted in coups; lastly he was toppled by a US-backed military coup back in 2004. The politicians are also discussing several other options like appointing a Supreme Court judge or a new prime minister to run an interim government. Last year, Martelly energized the former army men by taking steps to revive the armed forces and he has repeatedly pledged that it would be revived to protect the border, coastlines and the country's few remaining forests. However, as per the news report, the ex-military people were rallying in support of both the outgoing President Michel Martelly and his hand-picked candidate Jovenel Moïse for the next presidential race. While driving through the capital in convoys, some of them were waving weapons and firing into the air. The victim was carrying a small card bearing the image of ruling-party candidate Jovenel Moise.

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Here is a picture of President Sudre Dartiguenave with several Haitian Army Generals.

Interim President Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave. Philippe Dartiguenave, the 27th President of Haiti, was born in Anse-a-Veau. A mulatto, he earned a law degree, and was married to Marie Luce Pierre-Jacques and Lunicia Maignan.

In 1915 the U.S. began its occupation of Haiti after President Jean Guillaume Sam's death, and appointed Dartiguenave as provisional president.

Dartiguenave served in office from August 12, 1915 until May 15, 1922 and died four years later in Anse-a-Veau. President Louis Borno succeeded him.

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Here is a picture of Mr. Williams Régala, a former member of Haiti's National Council of Government. He participated in the council of February 1986. During the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier, he was the head of the secret service. Williams Régala was also Minister of Defense during the short lived government of Leslie Manigat. He also occupied the position of Interior Minister under the National Council.

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"Operation Uphold Democracy" was an intervention authorized by the UN Security Council to restore democracy by removing a military regime that overthrew the fairly elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti, on 30 September, 1991. Under the leadership of Lieutenant General Raoul Cedras, a military coup overthrew President Aristide, a charismatic Roman Catholic priest and the popularly elected president in the Haitian history who won 67% of the vote in a presidential election. The Operation Uphold Democracy involved a peacekeeping force of around 20,000 armed personnel from all five branches of the U.S armed forces, 5,000 Non-U.S forces and assistance of 24 nations. It had a mission to restore a legitimate government and a secure environment for the people in Haiti. The operation successfully assisted the exiled President to return and remain in power till the transitioning of power to the newly elected President Rene Preval on February 7, 1996. Operation Uphold Democracy officially ended with its replacement with the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) on March 31 1995.

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