THE TONTON MACOUTES: THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM OF HAITI’S REIGN OF TERROR.By: COHA Research Associate David Aponte

Publié par siel sur 9 Octobre 2013, 14:41pm

March 11, 2010 · in Front Page, Haiti, Press Releases

A Malediction on Haitian Society

Few countries in the hemisphere have suffered through such an extensive run of unqualified repressive regimes and military dictatorships as Haiti. The nearly thirty years of harsh rule under François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, and his son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier that ended in 1986, are likely the most infamous epoch in the painful history of this small French-Creole nation that occupies the western third of the Caribbean island of La Hispaniola. Certainly, the main tool for the maintenance of the regime’s grasp on the population through much of this period was the “Tonton Macoutes,” renamed in 1971 as the Milice de Voluntaires de la Sécurité Nationale —MVSN (Volunteers for National Security). Although this organization no longer formally exists, its legacy of paramilitary violence and sheer brutality still contorts Haitian modern political and economic cultures.

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EXtrait :

"These ghosts from the past still torment Haitian and U.S. policy: last year a group of civic activists accused the Obama administration of turning a blind-eye to the criminal activity being practiced against Aristide backers and supporters of his Fanmi Lavalas party. The group that was trying to prevent the participation of Haiti’s most popular party in the 2010 elections through the use of indiscriminate violence and political pressure was led by a former paramilitary leader convicted in the U.S. for drug trafficking and money laundering, Guy Philippe.

There a long history of paramilitary violence in Haiti that seems all but unstoppable, regardless of whatever government may be in charge. As Professor Robert Maguire observed in 2002, “the unabated power struggle among the country’s politicians has been joined by a renewal of the kind of paramilitary violence that the vast majority of Haitians hoped had ended with the disbandment of the Haitian Armed Forces in 1995.” But there are some other issues that feed the existence of the paramilitary phenomenon: these factors include drug trafficking, rampant poverty, demoralized police forces, and the primacy of the interests of the elite. All of these factors explain why the remnants of the “Tonton Macoutes” are still a very important part of Haiti’s political and social heritage, even as they and their descendents continue to fragment into small groups with different interests, maintaining their penchant for violence and chaos."

1 Commentaire :

"Sadly, the U.S. has never met a dictator it doesn't like. The monstrosity that was the Tonton Macoute is not adequately described in the article or on Wikipedia. The savage, almost unbelieveable tortures performed daily by these sadists make the Inquistion pale. U.S. support for the Duvaliers was 'justfied' because as long as these pigs ruled the hapless Haitian masses, communists from Cuba could not take hold. The fact that communist rule wouldd've been a vast improvement over the Duvaliers apparently meant nothing to commie-hating American leaders. Right-wing American politicians, corporations and churches seem to feel any evil is okay to lie with if it opposes communism. Which is why, I suppose, our government assisted in the escape of countless Nazi war criminals, cuddled up to Saddam Hussein, Manuel Noriega, Trujillio, Somoza, Battista, et al. I'm no fan of communism, but this kind of "Americanism" does not instill pride and patriotism."