Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
income tax for the first time. Although Estime was a practicing
Roman Catholic, he disturbed Catholics and the church with
his endorsement of voodoo. Finally, even some blacks deserted
him, characterizing the regime as ineffectual.
President Estime had sought the support of the Garde by
turning it into the Haitian army, but when he attempted to
amend the constitution in 1950 to prolong his presidency, the
new army, under Colonel Paul Magloire, sent him to exile in
Jamaica, with the tacit support of the elite and little public
opposition. The people who had ensured the transfer of power
from Lescot to Estime called for new elections.
Colonel Magloire resigned from the junta to run for president.
With the blessings of the military and the elite and the
absence of electoral opposition, he won a term in the first elections
in Haiti in which all men over twenty-one could vote.
President Magloire was an appealing figure who managed to
captivate blacks while restoring the elites to prominence.
Under his presidency, the business community and government
benefited briefly from favorable economic conditions, as
did the country's infrastructure, agricultural sector, and school
and health systems, all with the help of foreign loans.
By Haitian presidential standards, Magloire was firm but not
harsh. He jailed political opponents, prohibited labor strikes,
and periodically shut down printing presses. On the other
hand, he allowed unions and sometimes the presses to function.
However, Magloire's increasing corruption disillusioned
many Haitians. He controlled the sisal, cement, and soap
monopolies and built mansions for himself. Then, after Hurricane
Hazel devastated Haiti in 1954, Magloire appropriated
relief funds that had been earmarked for recovery. In May
1956, after an attempt to prolong his stay in office, protesters
demanded that he step down. In December 1956, after strikes
shut down Port-au-Prince, Paul Magloire fled to Jamaica.
The period between the ouster of Magloire in December
1956 and the election of Francois Duvalier in September 1957
was marked by political instability. During that interval, there
were three provisional presidents, one of whom resigned, and
two others who were ousted by the army.
Francois Duvalier, 1957-71
Francois Duvalier came from a modest but upwardly mobile
black family in Port-au-Prince. He attended the Lycee Petion, a
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