#2207: Jean Jean-Pierre addresses Duvalier's praises by Poincy (#2222) and David Young (#2203) (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Jean Jean-Pierre <jean@acd-pc.com>

Here we go again. After a near  two year lull,  Jean Poincy’s (#2222
-incidentally Duvalier's favourite number)  benevolent dictator of
choice has been resurrected  by David Young who takes pride of being
“the only white American to participate in the Carnaval of 1962 [in
Haiti]”.(Post#2203) By the way   David, given the fact that Haiti then
relied heavily on tourism,  have you ever wondered why there were not
more Caucasians participating in Haiti’s Carnaval?   You also said,
Haiti was “a very nice place to be indeed during the Papa Doc years”;
Please tell us at what cost  and who paid for this pseudo tranquility?
I know you are very good filmmaker. But, for God’s sake , do not venture
into the field of history revision. Don’t go there.

I think Guy and Mario have so eloquently enunciated the misdeeds of our
tyrant Papa Doc. But allow me to debunk this cockamamie idea that
Duvalier held the Haitian mulatto population and ”mulatto army”
(Poincy’s characterization)   at  bay.  It  is just a canard some of us
are  still keeping alive for the sake of rewriting Haiti’s history.
Case in point: When Duvalier’s daughter Nicole  married  Luc Albert
Fourcard, Papa Doc, exuding his pride, said ”I just realized [the union
of the mulattoes and the dark skinned Haitians] what Dessalines and
Petion could not accomplished.”
Was Mme. St Victor (quintessential mulatresse) the most TRUSTED
assistant of
our tyrant? Were not most Jean Claude Duvalier’s friends  mulattoes?
Our history is replete with this crap whenever demagogue politicians
–mulattoes and dark skin alike-  want to steal and kill and not
addressing the real problems afflicting the nation.
As far Papa Doc not-so-subtle penchant for both plagiarism and scaring
the
hell out of the population, here are some of Papa Doc’s favourite
quotes from Italian dictator Nicolo  Machiavelli and Turkish general
Mustapha Kemal  Ataturk:
-  “I don’t have enemies but those of my country”
-  “The revolution will eat its own children”
-   “Gratitude is a cowardly deed”
- “ Even on my death-bed I will be the president “
(by the way, he never publicly gave credit to those despots)

Another episode of  Duvalier’s henchman TI BOBO.
A furniture maker (Serge) who lived near my house made all TI BOBO’s
furniture
when he was getting married to Tayfè’s daughter (another Duvalier’s
henchman).   Serge never got paid a dime. One day -nine months later- we
were playing soccer at Thorland near Serge’s shop, TI BOBO stopped by
(we all knew his black Buick) and told Serge he was going to pay him
that day.  He left with Serge and to this date no one ever heard from
Serge again.
Poincy, that is called in Duvalierist parlance “Kouri avèl”
(literally:RUN WITH) which means DISAPPEAR or KAPUT like  in …DEAD.
(by the way, in his restaurant which was on Portail Leogane, Grand Rue
[not near the stadium Mario], TI BOBO forced most customers  –except for
his brethren tonton macoutes- to eat all bones after they eat.  He was
known to say: “I don’t have dogs in the house.” )

BOSS PAINT killed the president of Carnaval group (bann a pye) YOYO for
not saluting him (O CHAN) one Sunday.  He also left a guy in his car
trunk for 2 days because he caught him standing next to the vehicle
writing the plate number. The man unsuccessfully pleaded that he dreamt
of BOSS PAINT’s car and  was going to play the number (4554) in the
Bolèt (weekly lottery).
The man, who lived near Portail St Joseph, died asphyxiated.

Papa Doc killed his friend and poet Rene Daumec  after the latter wrote
Duvalier’s famous “Le petit livre rouge de  la revolution” (The little
red book of the revolution).
On November 12, 1964, most  pupils  from school located in Port au
Prince were bussed and forced to watch in front of the capital’s
cemetery the execution of Marcel Numa and Louis Drouin by a military
squad  led by PAKAPALA (Colonel Franck Romain).  (Drouin and Numa were
part of Jeune Haiti 13, a group of young men who left the US to
overthrow
Duvalier.[ My neighbor Reginald Jourdan who taught me how to play soccer
was part of the group]).  I and, I’m certain, most of the other children
present that day had nightmares for days…
Please give me a break with all those Duvalier’s accomplishments.
Poincy, besides forcing most of us to leave the country –frankly after
25 years here, I don’t if I should be glad or not- cite me one of
Duvalier’s lasting achievements, and I’ll shut up.  (Well, we already
know about the airport, the Services des Contributions building [we then
called this four story structure a skyscraper)  and the Route
Carrefour).