Haiti In The Cold War Essay

Notes
Haiti in the Cold War
-Won presidential election in Sept. 1957 He was supported by the US because he strongly opposed communism. But then the US backed away from him because he used secret military attacks that killed many of the Haiti people. The US backed away because they didn’t want to destroy their human rights image. (Haiti under Siege Article at Socialistworker.org)
-Dictator
-“He attacked all national institutions” that could oppose him; he shut down everything from the press; Catholic Church, schools and colleges; cracked down the unions; punished his critics with torture and death and rewarded his followers with funds; and created a climate of terror through random violent attacks by the military.” (Haiti under
Corruption--in the form of government rake-offs of industries, bribery, extortion of domestic businesses, and stolen government funds--enriched the dictator 's closest supporters” (Comparative Criminology/ North America – Haiti)
-His dictatorship worried US president John F. Kennedy. Kennedy suspended economic/ military aid because Duvalier just wanted to make his tonton makouts stronger.
-Tensions began between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in April 1963 when Dominican Republic president Juan Bosch Gavino “provided an asylum and direct support to Haitian exiles.” (Comparative Criminology/ North America – Haiti)
-April 1969 Francois establishes an anti communist law that removed any profession of communist belief such writers, professors, and journalist and warned a penalty of death upon them. (“Haiti Under Siege” 200 Years of U.S. imperialism by Helen Scott)
- Francois Duvalier dies in 1971 and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier is president and continues his father’s rule. (Comparative Criminology/ North America –
In September 1957, Francois Duvalier became president of Haiti. As a dictator he was driven by greed and wanted to get rid of communism in the country. He shut down everything from the press, Catholic Church, and schools. He punished anyone who went against him with violent attacks from the military in which he named the Tonton Makouts. He used the superior power of the military to maintain his own power. His cruel dictatorship worried many of the presidents of the US throughout his leadership. US President John F. Kennedy suspended economic and military aid because he saw that Francois just wanted to make his military stronger. Francois Duvalier established an anti communist law in April 1969 removing all professions affiliated with communist belief such as writers, professors, and