Word: tonton
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Perhaps the best that can be said of Haiti these days is that the worst has not come to pass. The country has not lapsed into civil war. The Tonton Macoutes, President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier's brutal secret police, have not resurfaced, contrary to widespread rumors that they were regrouping in the Dominican Republic. The shaky rule of the National Council of Government continues under the uninspired leadership of Lieut. General Henri Namphy, but the oft-predicted coup has not materialized. One year after Duvalier and his family fled to exile in France, Haiti continues to limp toward...
...each step forward seems to be offset by disappointing setbacks. Since Duvalier fled and the dreaded Tonton Macoutes disbanded, large pockets of the Haitian countryside have degenerated into lawlessness. Contraband flowing into the country has fueled a rash of burglaries, arson attacks and murders. After all of Haiti's ports were reopened last fall, illegal rice from Miami hit the market, undercutting local farmers. Inevitably a battle erupted between farmers and profiteering smugglers that has yet to quiet. "Smuggling is unfortunately the No. 1 growth industry in Haiti," says a Western diplomat. "Crime is not far behind." Last week...
While the Port-au-Prince government is preoccupied with law-and-order, the ^ populace is more disturbed by the slow pace of justice. Although two Duvalier cronies, including Luc Desyr, the former Tonton Macoutes chief, have been packed off to prison, scores of others have been allowed to slip out of the country. Says Manigat: "The government is perceived as weak and slow in the de-Duvalierization of the country...
...worse, become plain bored. "In truth, I do find my days a bit empty," says the former First Lady in an interview in the December Vanity Fair. Her time is filled with TV and crossword puzzles. She is "unable to concentrate on novels" but does give her husband ("mon tonton") a manicure every 15 days. He too, she reports, "is looking for something to do." But the worst is that he cannot get used to sidewalks. "If only Jean-Claude would realize that you can't walk in the road without getting run over, our life would be just fine...
...against him was presented. But his demeanor darkened noticeably during testimony about his role in breaking up an anti-Duvalier demonstration near Leogane, a town 28 miles southwest of the capital, a week before Baby Doc left. The military prosecutor charged that Jeremie had led two Jeep loads of Tonton Macoutes, Duvalier's hated secret police, who had opened fire on the crowd. The government contends that five persons were killed and 17 wounded in the demonstration. Others believe more than 100 persons died...