Word: docs
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...enforce his rule, Duvalier created the thuggish Tonton Macoutes, Creole for bogeymen. Swaggering through the streets, they terrorized the population, extorted money and tortured and killed untold numbers. In January 1971, Papa Doc decreed that his tubby son Jean-Claude, 19, would succeed him in the presidency. Haitians were called to the polls to ratify the succession of the ) moon-faced playboy, whose interests seemed to revolve around women and fast cars. According to government figures, Baby Doc won the plebiscite handily...
...Baby Doc's grip began to falter last November when his security forces opened fire on student demonstrators in the coastal town of Gonaives. Three people were killed. The ensuing protests added momentum to a rebellion among young Haitians who saw little chance for improvement in their lives under Duvalier. The opposition movement was supported by the Roman Catholic Church, which since the 1983 visit of Pope John Paul II had protested Duvalier's indifference to the country's squalor. Last month a new wave of protests swept the country. Although Duvalier's troops and police maintained control of Port...
...Michele's insistence, Duvalier last Monday motored through Port-au- Prince with his wife at the wheel of a white Jeep. Sharpshooters crouched on rooftops along the route. When Baby Doc returned to the palace, he complained, "It was a masquerade. Without all that security, my life would not have been worth a gourde"--Haitian currency worth about 20 cents. Still, he put on a bravado performance. Asked if he intended to hold elections, an unsmiling - Duvalier answered, "I intend to remain President-for-Life as constitutionally guaranteed...
...final straw for Duvalier may have been his anxiety over the annual pre- Lenten carnival that was to begin this week. For Haitians, the three-day Mardi Gras festival is a time of orgiastic release, when they can momentarily forget their cares. Ordinarily Baby Doc would have joined in the festivities, but a boycott of the carnival called by his opponents was gathering momentum. The President, sniggered residents of Port-au-Prince, would be the laughingstock of a carnival to which no one came. On the other hand, any crowds that did form would be a danger to his regime...
...journalists. The Haitian entourage went to an 11th century Benedictine monastery that has been converted into a hotel. While they rested and sampled the hostelry's luxurious cuisine, the French government was reportedly trying to persuade several so far reluctant African countries to offer Duvalier sanctuary. For Baby Doc the good life continued--at least for the time being...