Tonton Macoutes

Tonton Macoutes

(tŏntŏn` mäko͞ot`) [Haitian Creole,=bogeymen], personal police force of dictator Francois DuvalierDuvalier, François
, 1907–71, dictator of Haiti (1957–71). A physician, he became director-general of the national public health service in 1946 and subsequently served as minister of health and of labor.
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 (Papa Doc) of Haiti. Unpaid volunteers who were directly responsible only to Duvalier, they were given virtual license to torture, kill, and extort. They murdered hundreds of Duvalier's opponents, sometimes publicly hanging the corpses as warnings. After Papa Doc's death (1971), his son Jean-Claude DuvalierDuvalier, Jean-Claude
, 1951–2014, president of Haiti (1971–86). At age 19, he was proclaimed "president for life" upon the death of his father, Francois Duvalier.
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 (Baby Doc) changed their name to the National Security Volunteers, though they continued to terrorize the citizenry. After the overthrow of Baby Doc (1986), although officially disbanded, the group continued to spread terror.