APRIL 26TH: DAYS OF VIOLENCE 23 YEARS APART
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (JFK+50) On April 26, 1963 and 1986, two "senseless events" of violence occurred here in Haiti. The first saw the Haitian National Police, under orders of Francois Duvalier*, conduct mass killings of soldiers and their families. The second, 23 years later, saw 11 people gunned down, by order of Jean-Claude Duvalier**, at a commemoration and protest of the first event.
The Haitian Observer describes the father-son Duvalier regime as "one of the cruelest" in the history of Haiti.
*Francois Duvalier, a.k.a. "Papa Doc" (1907-1971) was president of Haiti from 1957 until 1971. FD received his medical degree from the University of Haiti in 1934. His government was one of the most repressive in the Western Hemisphere. The Kennedy administration was disturbed by his authoritarian & repressive rule. FD claimed JFK's death resulted from a curse he placed on him.
**Jean-Claude Duvalier, a.k.a. "Baby Doc" (1951-2014) ruled Haiti with near absolute power until his overthrow in 1986. He was born in Port-au-Prince & studied law at the University of Haiti.
SOURCE
"April 26, 1963, Jean-Claude Duvalier At College Bird and The Massacre", Haiti Observer, October 16, 2012, www.haitiobserver.com/
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (JFK+50) On April 26, 1963 and 1986, two "senseless events" of violence occurred here in Haiti. The first saw the Haitian National Police, under orders of Francois Duvalier*, conduct mass killings of soldiers and their families. The second, 23 years later, saw 11 people gunned down, by order of Jean-Claude Duvalier**, at a commemoration and protest of the first event.
The Haitian Observer describes the father-son Duvalier regime as "one of the cruelest" in the history of Haiti.
*Francois Duvalier, a.k.a. "Papa Doc" (1907-1971) was president of Haiti from 1957 until 1971. FD received his medical degree from the University of Haiti in 1934. His government was one of the most repressive in the Western Hemisphere. The Kennedy administration was disturbed by his authoritarian & repressive rule. FD claimed JFK's death resulted from a curse he placed on him.
**Jean-Claude Duvalier, a.k.a. "Baby Doc" (1951-2014) ruled Haiti with near absolute power until his overthrow in 1986. He was born in Port-au-Prince & studied law at the University of Haiti.
SOURCE
"April 26, 1963, Jean-Claude Duvalier At College Bird and The Massacre", Haiti Observer, October 16, 2012, www.haitiobserver.com/
Papa Doc (1968)
Baby Doc (2011)
Photo by Marcello Casal Jr/ABr
Agencia Brasil on Wikimedia Commons
