#2424: Duvalier: Beausejour replies to Bellegarde-Smith and Gill (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Jean Beaujour <jbb123@hotmail.com>


Bellegarde-Smith  wrote

>  For some reason, the figure generally spoken of says that approximately
>20,000 Haitians died during the Duvalier years. Most of these people where
>in the slums and rural areas and thus remained anonymous. Members of the
>upper-classes and middle-classes did not remain anonymous, giving us a
>better accounting there. A city like Jeremie was decimated. It was seen as
>a bastion of mulatre power.   > >
>

I think your numbers are pure speculation. I dont believe there were 
systematic massacres under Duvalier. There were repressions but not a lot of 
people died in a systematic fashion. The ones who died could be considered 
rebels or camoquins and died for their own cause. In contrast, a few major 
massacres occured under the FADH and FRAPH, specially in the slums of 
Port-au-Prince. Innocent people were killed left and right during the Coup 
d'Etat against Aristide. The FADH ordered massacres on the mass many times 
during their reign of terror. They also encouraged the "Dechoukaj" of many 
people. They allowed innocent people to die, people like Silvio Claude while 
they watch. We could go on and on.

It is clear that people were much safer under Duvalier than the FRAPH or 
FADH guys. They purposely let things deteriorate. People claim that the 
Duvalier regime was bad but under the FADH guys like Namphy Avril, Cedras 
and others, Haiti deteriorates 10 times worse. Everything became worse under 
these guys, violence, poverty, you name it, it got worse.


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