Tonton Macoute

The Tonton Macoute () or simply the Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. In 1970 the militia was renamed the ' (VSN"', Volunteers of the National Security). Haitians named this force after the Haitian mythological bogeyman, "Tonton Macoute" ("Uncle Gunnysack"), who kidnaps and punishes unruly children by snaring them in a gunny sack () and carrying them off to be consumed at breakfast.
History.
After the July 1958 Haitian coup d'état attempt against President François Duvalier, he purged the army and law enforcement agencies in Haiti and executed numerous officers as he perceived them as a threat to his regime. To counteract this threat, he created a military force that bore several names. In 1959, his paramilitary force was called the "Cagoulards" ("Hooded Men"). They were then renamed to Milice Civile ("Civilian Militia"), and after 1962, Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale ("Volunteers of the National Security", or VSN). They began to be called the "Tonton Macoute" when people started to disappear for no apparent reason. This group answered to him only.
Duvalier authorized the "Tontons Macoutes" to commit systematic violence and human rights abuses to suppress political opposition. They were responsible for unknown numbers of murders and rapes in Haiti. Political opponents often disappeared overnight, or were sometimes attacked in broad daylight. "Tontons Macoutes" stoned and burned people alive. Many times they put the corpses of their victims on display, often hung in trees for everyone to see and take as warnings against opposition. Family members who tried to remove the bodies for proper burial often disappeared themselves. Anyone who challenged the VSN risked assassination. Their unrestrained state terrorism was accompanied by corruption, extortion and personal aggrandizement among the leadership. The victims of "Tontons Macoutes" could range from a woman in the poorest of neighborhoods who had previously supported an opposing politician to a businessman who refused to comply with extortion threats (ostensibly as donations for public works, but which were in fact the source of profit for corrupt officials and even President Duvalier). The "Tontons Macoutes" murdered between 30,000 and 60,000 Haitians.
Luckner Cambronne led the "Tontons Macoute" throughout the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. His cruelty earned him the nickname "Vampire of the Caribbean". This particular name was earned by one of his endeavors of extorting plasma from locals for sale. Luckner did this through his company "Hemocaribian" and shipped five tons of plasma per month to US Labs. He would also go on to sell cadavers to medical schools after buying them from Haitian hospitals for $3 per corpse. When the Hospital could not supply this the local funeral homes would be used. In 1971, President Duvalier died and his widow Simone, and son Jean-Claude Duvalier ordered Cambronne into exile. Cambronne moved to Miami, Florida, USA, where he lived until his death in 2006.
When François Duvalier came to power in 1957 Vodou was becoming celebrated for its purely Haitian heritage by Intellectuals and the Griots after having been let go for years by those with education. The "Tonton Macoute" was heavily influenced by Vodou tradition with denim uniforms resembling clothing like Azaka Medeh the patron of farmers and the use of the machete in symbolic reference to Ogou a great general in Vodou tradition.
Some of the most important members of the "Tontons Macoute" were Vodou leaders. This religious affiliation gave the "Tontons Macoute" a kind of unearthly authority in the eyes of the public. From their methods to their choice of clothes, Vodou always played an important role in their actions. The "Tonton Macoutes" wore straw hats, blue denim shirts and dark glasses, and were armed with machetes and guns. Both their allusions to the supernatural and their physical presentations were used with the intention of instilling fear and respect. Even their title of Tonton Macoute was embedded in Haitian lore of a bogeyman who took children away in his satchel or his Makoute.
The "Tontons Macoute" were a ubiquitous presence at the polls in the 1961 election, in which Duvalier's official vote count was an "outrageous" and fraudulent , electing him to another term. They appeared in force again at polls in 1964, when Duvalier held a rigged referendum that declared him President for Life.
Legacy.
In 1985 the United States began to shut down funds to Haitian aid cutting nearly a million dollars from it within a year. Nonetheless the regime pushed forward and even had a national party for the "Tontons Macoute". "Tonton Macoute" day was 29 July 1985, and amongst festivities the group was bestowed new uniforms and was honored by all of Baby Doc's Cabinet. In exuberance of celebration the "Tonton Macoute" went out into the streets and shot 27 people for the national party.
The lack of funds coming to the "Tonton Macoute" was result of being intercepted by the Duvalier dynasty who were sometimes taking nearly 80 percent of international aid to Haiti, then turning around to only pay 45 percent of the debts the country owed. This continued until the "Tonton Macoute" were left on their own when Baby Doc fled the country with an estimated $900m.
The "Tonton Macoutes" remained active even after the presidency of "Papa Doc" Duvalier's son "Baby Doc" ended with the anti-Duvalier protest movement 1986. Massacres led by paramilitary groups spawned from the "Macoutes" continued during the following decade. The most feared paramilitary group during the 1990s was the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti (FRAPH), which "Toronto Star" journalist Linda Diebel described as modern "Tonton Macoutes", and not the legitimate political party they claimed to be.
Led by Emmanual Constant, FRAPH differed from the "Tonton Macoute" in their denial to submit to the will of a single authority and their cooperation with regular military forces. FRAPH extended its reach far outside that of the Haitian state and had offices present in New York, Montreal and Miami until its disarmament and disbandment in 1994.