The Duvaliers
The father and son duo Duvalier dictators of Haiti. Papa Doc (real name François) and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier ruled Haiti for 29 years. Francois “Papa Doc” was President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971 when he was replaced by his son until he was deposed in 1986. Papa Doc was elected during the 1957 general election as president on a Black Nationalist and populist platform. However, following a coup d'État a year later, he took control of the government. His abuse of power saw the government become more autocratic. That means he declared himself president for Life in 1964 but this only lasted for him until 1971 when he kicked the bucket. In 1986, his son was overthrown in a coup. That meant that for the rest of his life he was under legal scrutiny until his death in 2014. His 15 years were also ruling over an autocratic government that he inherited from his "Papa".
The Duvaliers had their Dynasty characterized by corruption and human rights abuses as well as repression. They had their own police force called the Tonton Macoute who intimidated and made the public paranoid to the point that they could only trust the Duvaliers. Prisoners during the rule of Francois Duvalier AKA “Papa Doc” were usually political prisoners and they were detained, tortured and there were reports of disappearances alongside political killings. Political dissonance and the press were repressed. There was gender-based violence riddled with inappropriate behaviour. This was the same when Papa Doc's son Jean-Claude came into power.
In addition, Papa Doc used voodoo to create a cult of personality for himself which is probably the reason why the villain in Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” was renamed to Dr Facilier from "Dr Duvalier" probably to prevent any uproar from any remaining Duvalier supporters. Both Duvaliers spent their time moving Haiti’s wealth to their prviate account abroad. Jean-Claude AKA “Baby Doc” struggled to run Haiti, leaving it an impoverished and AIDS riddled country. The spread of the HIV AIDS virus, together with swine fever (different to Swine flu) which destroyed a big part of the livelihood of the peasant population all brought things to ahead. Finally, a revolt happened that saw the downfall of the Duvalier government. Jean-Claude fled to France but returned later in life to stand for election. However, this campaign failed. For the rest of his life, there were arrest warrants for Duvalier who then got on the death coach in 2014.
The Duvalier regime had a huge impact on the lives of ordinary Haitians. For example, the parents of former President of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils Amie, emigrate to America where they had their now iconic son in New York City in 1961. This happened after the relationship was disapproved by both parents' parents when Reggie's maternal granddad (who was Haiti's democratic Secretary of Health and education) was exiled from the country post coup and Reggie's paternal granddad was a general.
