Duvaliers

Duvaliers
First reference:	It Takes a Village, Part 1
"Duvaliers" on Wikipedia

The Duvaliers (François and his son Jean-Claude) led Haiti for many years.

About

Graphic Novel:It Takes a Village, Part 1

The Haitian remembers that when he was a child, Haiti "was dying, strangling in the grip of the Duvaliers". The leader of the country, Jean-Claude Duvalier, keeps a private militia called the Tonton Macoutes, who terrorize Guillame's village.

Notes

• Both François and Jean-Claude were considered brutal dictators. They used the Tonton Macoutes to solidify their power.
• Some estimate that up to 30,000 Haitians were killed under François's reign.
• François served 14 years in office from 1957 until his death in 1971.
• Jean-Claude took over his father's position at age 19 and served for 15 years as head of state.
• Following a civil uprising and pressure from the Reagan administration to renounce his rule, Jean-Claude was unceremoniously exiled to France.
• Given the Haitian's young age in 1992 (Company Man), it is likely that the events of the It Takes a Village series take place in the early 1980s or late 1970s, and the Duvalier to whom the Haitian refers to is Jean-Claude.

Trivia

• François was often called "Papa Doc", and Jean-Claude was nicknamed "Baby Doc".
• In 1983, Pope John Paul II visited Jean-Claude's country and declared, "Something must change here."
• 15 years after François's death, a mob of Haitians set out to beat the deceased leader's corpse. They were unsuccessful in finding the body, so they beat the body of one of his supporters instead.