Haiti: The Duvaliers and Their Legacy - Hardcover

Written by the senior editor of the Haiti Times (and sister-in-law of Baby Doc's successor, General Henri Namphy), this is the most intimate and revealing examination to date of the Duvalier years. Based largely on interviews with former officials, intellectuals, voudou priests and ordinary folk, Abbott provides a shocking view of conditions in the Black Republic from the 1957 election of Duvalier pere to the exile of his son, Jean-Claude, in 1986, and up to the installation of President Leslie Manigat two years later. For the most part, it is a nightmarish chronicle of corruption, greed and relentless slaughter, climaxing in an account of "Blood Sunday" (29 November 1987) when the dreaded Tonton Macoutes reemerged to sabotage Haiti's first free election in 30 years. Abbott traces the transformation of Francois Duvalier from puritanical country doctor to mad despot, the rise of the Macoutes gangs under Madame Max Adolphe and their political rivalry with the Haitian army, and the bizarre, lackadaisical reign of Jean- Claude Duvalier, including details of the reckless squandering of public funds by his wife Michelle. Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.