#2222: Poincy on Francois Duvalier

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Jean Poincy <caineve@idt.net>

Young, shuuuuu, quiet! Don't say it too loud, you might open old
wounds, objective reflection on Dr. François Duvalier's era can't be
voiced that loud when wounds are not completely healed. The truth is not
to be told that loud about Papa Doc. You will be called a duvalierist,
bad name you don't want to bear. What has gotten to you? You have said
it eloquently, plainly, objectively, very loud and it echoes very well.
The stretch on Christophe's legacy is not to be heard et la "politique
de doublure", the thing with the token black puppet president while the
heirs of Petion's clique kept pulling the string, you relate, is to be
forgotten.

What I can't understand really is how some today's Ayitian leaders,
historian, intellectuals and blacks buy all the lies about Dr. François
Duvalier and keep feeding them to the people. The masses don't
comprehend what was happening and vowed to destroy whatever was of
Duvalier or whatever he had accomplished. They are so much into a "blue
and red flag" without knowing the history behind it and associate it
with Duvalier's creation. These issues baffled me really.

I truly believe that the state of mind of a people is the foundation of
its progress, but if it is full of lies or distorted truth, how will
this people move from one point to the next. The "red and blue flag"
referred to as the original one is the greatest lie told to the people.
Moreover, its emblem "l'union fait la force" is a joke in itself
considering the social aspect of the country's history. However, almost
everyone adopt it despite today's contradictory circumstance.

The existence of the "blue and red flag" was not constitutional. It was
rather circumstantial in a community, which did not exist as a nation.
Once the new nation was born with a constitution (1805) the colors of
the flag were chosen. They were black and red. It was to be respected.
After the assassination of Dessalines, Christophe did keep the black and
red while Petion and his clique reversed the colors to blue and red;
that kept them closer to France symbolically, it had nothing to do with
the emblem, which was meaningless then and still is today. It is
surprising that they did not reintroduce the white portion.

Duvalier whom understood his country's history wanted to do justice to
the violated constitution of 1805 and brought back to life the black and
red. How fanatical can one be for not seeing this objectively? One did
not have to live during the Duvalier era to make an objective analysis
when the facts are presented to him/her. Ayitian history needs to be
retold. 

This is what we have. A group of people whom refuse to acknowledge the
effectiveness and grand vision of Christophe and Dr. François Duvalier
just because these two were the true defenders of the black masses. They
rather live in lies by accusing Papa Doc of keeping the nation
illiterate while Petion's clique had a century and a half to educate the
people and did not do it. Once they took control of the North after
Christophe's death, they ruined it and the place never got back on its
feet until today. They wanted to do the same thing to the Dominican
Republic. They had a century and a half to make the country prosperous,
instead they almost let it fall under the German control.  Compare
thirty years to a century and a half.

Should Ayiti thank Uncle Sam for stepping in? I think so. But did Ayiti
need to get to that point? I don't think so. If Petion's dynasty was
doing the job right, Ayiti today would have been a real paradise and
Duvalier would have stayed a brilliant doctor serving his rural peasants
right by curing them of death stricken infections. What is it exactly
they are blaming Duvalier for? Maybe because he neutralized the mulatto
army put in place by the US government to control Ayiti better. 

The US loss of control of Ayiti under Duvalier was at the core of the
reasons why Ayiti was not receiving financial assistance unlike what so
many of us believe. But the US could not touch him because he brought
stability to the region. Smart was he, he took advantage of the US fight
against communism (Cuba next door) to get rid of his enemies whom would
want to remove him from power and take his place through successive
coups d'Etat like they used to do before. Duvalier tagged every one of
his enemies communist to justify his political clean up. Relating all
this is not to justify Duvalier's wrong doings, but to outline the truth
for what it is. We've gone there before on Corbettland if I recall, but
things need to be resaid sometimes.


Ayiti has lived, lives and will live
Mozeb