Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 3, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2018 | Page 25

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
Presidential Guard, trained by the U.S. Marines, that were housed on the grounds
of the Presidential Palace. This is something that further demonstrates how Duvalier
had recognized past mistakes made by Haitian leadership and can further
be explained as a result of his keen distrust of others. He was described as becoming
“physically altered” and rather than a “quiet, humble country doctor ... he
was shown snarling out at the world from under a large American army helmet”
(Diederich and Burt 1969, 122). As further evidence to his paranoia and distrust
of others, he took to wearing a gun on each hip to protect himself from future
assassination attempts. These are key indicators of Duvalier’s transition from a
government official to someone with a pathological determination to defend his
political power.
In May 1959, he contracted a serious case of influenza and suffered a heart
attack later that month. Duvalier’s personal physician, Dr. Jacques Fourcand, asserted
that Duvalier lapsed into a coma, lasting nine hours (Abbott 1988). Some
Duvalier associates assumed that irreversible neurological damage had occurred
because of oxygen deprivation after an incorrect dose of medication was administered
(Abbott 1988). Some of Duvalier’s palace intimates noted behaviors consistent
with lapses into insanity (Abbott 1988). During his incapacitation, presidential
powers shifted to Clement Barbot, head of the Tontons Marcoutes (Perper
and Cina 2010). After his recovery, Duvalier imprisoned Barbot, accusing him of
treason.
In April 1963, after being released from prison, Barbot planned a coup and
orchestrated a failed kidnapping attempt of Duvalier’s children. “Hundreds, some
say thousands, were to die in the horrific aftermath of this event. Duvalier’s immediate
response was to order a neighborhood sweep. Then he instigated a witch
hunt among those considered suspect” (Marquis 2007, 209). When a group of
Tonton Macoute believed they had cornered Barbot in a room where he was reportedly
hiding, they kicked down the door and found instead a lone black dog.
Subsequently, an urban legend began that Barbot transformed himself into a black
dog, who ultimately escaped. According to lore, in response Papa Doc ordered the
extermination of every black dog on the island of Haiti (Abbott 1988; Perper and
Cina 2010). After the kidnapping attempt, more of Duvalier’s grandiosity surfaced
as he declared himself Haiti’s “‘predestined’ leader with a ‘historic mission to fulfill’”
(Diederich and Burt 1969, 217). During this timeframe, it was rumored that
Duvalier began personally directing the torture of his opponents (Time 2011).
After his heart attack, Duvalier was described as being “Hitler-like,” who
would “rant and rave and foam at the mouth like a true lunatic” (Abbott 1988, 98).
This further indicates the depth of his paranoia and distrust in others. Duvalier began
to withdraw from those close to him and to surround himself with his fervent
supporters, the Tonton Macoutes. In a post-heart attack speech to people in the
countryside made up of at least half houngans and mambos, Duvalier is quoted as
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