Haiti Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Duvalier dynasty (1957–1986)==== {{main|Duvalier dynasty}} [[File:Duvalier crop2.jpg|thumb|upright|"Papa Doc" [[François Duvalier|Duvalier]] in 1968]] In 1956–57 Haiti underwent severe political turmoil; Magloire was forced to resign and leave the country in 1956 and he was followed by four short-lived presidencies.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/> In the [[Haitian presidential election, 1957|September 1957 election]] [[François Duvalier]] was elected President of Haiti. Known as 'Papa Doc' and initially popular, Duvalier remained President until his death in 1971.<ref name="Bradt17">Clammer, Paul (2016), ''Bradt Travel Guide – Haiti'', p. 17.</ref> He advanced black interests in the public sector, where over time, people of color had predominated as the educated urban elite.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/><ref name="bryan">{{cite book|last=Bryan |first= Patrick E. |title=The Haitian Revolution and Its Effects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9owdkOc0wgC|year=1984|publisher=Heinemann|isbn=978-0-435-98301-7}}</ref> Not trusting the army, despite his frequent purges of officers deemed disloyal, Duvalier created a private militia known as ''[[Tonton Macoute|Tontons Macoutes]]'' ("Bogeymen"), which maintained order by terrorizing the populace and political opponents.<ref name="Bradt17"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174718/François-Duvalier|title=François Duvalier|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> In 1964 Duvalier proclaimed himself 'President for Life'; [[Jérémie Vespers|an uprising]] against his rule that year in [[Jérémie]] was violently suppressed, with the ringleaders publicly executed and hundreds of mixed-raced citizens in the town killed.<ref name="Bradt17"/> The bulk of the educated and professional class began leaving the country, and corruption became widespread.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/><ref name="Bradt17"/> Duvalier sought to create a personality cult, identifying himself with [[Baron Samedi]], one of the [[loa]] (or ''lwa''), or spirits, of [[Haitian Vodou]]. Despite the well-publicized abuses under his rule, Duvalier's firm anti-Communism earned him the support of the Americans, who furnished the country with aid.<ref name="Bradt17"/><ref name="Štraus">{{citation |mode=cs1 |title=Biographies: François Duvalier (1907–1971) |last=Štraus |first=Stane |website=PolymerNotes.org |url=http://www.polymernotes.org/biographies/HTI_bio_duvalier.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711133408/http://www.polymernotes.org/biographies/HTI_bio_duvalier.htm |archive-date=11 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1971 Duvalier died, and he was succeeded by his son [[Jean-Claude Duvalier]], nicknamed 'Baby Doc', who ruled until 1986.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shaw |first=Karl |title=Power Mad! |trans-title= Šílenství mocných |year=2005 |orig-year=2004 |publisher=Metafora |location=Praha |language=cs |isbn=978-80-7359-002-4 |page=52}}</ref><ref name="Bradt17"/> He largely continued his father's policies, though curbed some of the worst excesses in order to court international respectability.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/> Tourism, which had nosedived in Papa Doc's time, again became a growing industry.<ref name="Clammer, Paul">{{cite news|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/paul-clammer/haiti-caribbean-destination_b_2593487.html |title=Is Haiti The Caribbean's Best New Destination? |last=Clammer |first= Paul |date=1 February 2014 |access-date= 3 November 2014 |work=The Huffington Post}}</ref> However, as the economy continued to decline, Baby Doc's grip on power began to weaken. Haiti's pig population was slaughtered following an outbreak of swine fever in the late 1970s, causing hardship to rural communities who used them as an investment.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Abrams|first=Elliott|date=November 2014|title=Getting Rid of Baby Doc|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/getting-rid-of-baby-doc/|journal=Commentary|volume=138|pages=27–30|issn=0010-2601|access-date=9 September 2019|archive-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811200020/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/getting-rid-of-baby-doc/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The opposition became more vocal, bolstered by a visit to the country by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1983, who publicly lambasted the president.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6tkvAAAAIBAJ&pg=7222,4661909 |title='Things in Haiti must change,' pope tells Duvalier |page=15 |newspaper=The Spokesman-Review |date=10 March 1983 |issn=1064-7317 |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |quote=The Roman Catholic pontiff responded with a stern lecture to the island country's tiny moneyed elite, telling the 31-year-old president-for-life of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, 'Things must change in Haiti.' ... 'I call on all those who have power, riches and culture so that they can understand the serious and urgent responsibility to help their brothers and sisters,' {{bracket|[[Pope John Paul II]]}} said.}}</ref> Demonstrations occurred in Gonaïves in 1985 which then spread across the country; under pressure from the United States, Duvalier left the country for France in February 1986. In total, roughly 40,000 to 60,000 Haitians are estimated to have been killed during the reign of the Duvaliers.<ref>"{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/28/AR2011012803142.html|title= 'Baby Doc' Duvalier missed Haiti. That's why he came back|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Marjorie|last= Valbrun|date=28 January 2011}}</ref> Through the use of his intimidation tactics and executions, many intellectual Haitians had fled, leaving the country with a massive brain-drain from which it has yet to recover.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l8Nrdxzi-lkC |title=Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter from Haiti|editor=Wilentz, Amy|page=13|year=2013|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781451643978|access-date=24 May 2020}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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