Élie Lescot
Encyclopedia
Louis Élie Lescot was the President
of Haiti
from May 15, 1941 to January 11, 1946. He was a member of the country's light-skinned elite and used the political climate of World War II to sustain his power and ties to the United States, Haiti's powerful northern neighbor. His administration presided over a period of economic downturn and harsh political repression of dissidents.
to study pharmacy after completing his secondary education in Cap-Haïtien
, before settling in Port-de-Paix
working in the export-import business. He entered politics after his first wife died 1911, becoming elected to the Chamber of Deputies two years later. After a four-year stay in France during the US occupation of Haiti, he returned and held posts in the Borno
and Vincent
administrations. Four years later he was named ambassador to the neighboring Dominican Republic
, where he forged an alliance with the President Rafael Trujillo, until moving to Washington, D.C. to work as ambassador to the United States.
in 1941. Prominent members of the Chamber of Deputies opposed his candidacy, arguing Haiti needed a black president. Taking the advantage of Trujillo's wealth of influence, he was able to buy his way into power. He won 56 out of 58 votes cast by legislators. Deputy Max Hudicourt
claimed the margin of victory was due to intimidation and beatings of legislators.
Lescot quickly moved to consolidate his control over the state apparatus, naming himself head of the Military Guard and appointing a clique of white and light-skinned members of the elite to major government posts, including his own sons. This action earned him great disdain among Haiti's mostly black population.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor
, he declared war on the Axis Powers and pledged all necessary support to the Allied war effort. His government offered refuge to European Jews on Haitian soil in cooperation with the Dominican Republic's Trujillo. In 1942 Lescot claimed the war necessitated the suspension of the constitution and had the parliament give him unlimited executive powers. Political opponents were subject to physical harassment and surveillance by security forces.
in Washington granted $5 million in 1941 for the development of rubber plants in Haiti. The program was called Société Haïtiano-Américane de Développement Agricole (SHADA) and managed by American agronomist Thomas Fennell.
SHADA began production in 1941 with the provision of ample military support per contract with the US government. By 1943, an estimated 47177 acres (190.9 km²) where cleared for the planting of cryptostegia
vine, which was considered to yield high amounts of latex. The program eventually claimed over 100,000 hectares of land. Farmers in Haiti's northern countryside were lured from food crop cultivation to meet increasing demand for rubber.
Lescot energetically campaigned on SHADA's behalf, arguing the program would modernize Haitian agriculture, in tandem with a robust public relations campaign by the United States.
Peasant families were forcibly removed from Haiti's most arable tracts of land. After nearly a million fruit-bearing trees in Jérémie
were cut down and peasant houses invaded or razed, the Haitian Minister of Agriculture, Maurice Dartigue, wrote to Fennell asking him to respect "the mentality and legitimate interests of the Haitian peasant and city-dwellers."
But yields did not meet expectations and insufficient amounts of rubber were produced for to generate significant exports. Droughts contributed to poor harvests.
"The worst thing that can be said of SHADA is that they are doing [their operations] at considerable expense to the American taxpayer and in a manner that does not command the respect of the Haitian people", concluded a survey by the US military. The US government offered $175,000 as compensation to displaced peasants after recommending the program's cancellation.
Lescot feared SHADA's termination would add the burden of higher unemployment (at its height it employed over 90,000 people) to a sinking economy and hurt his public image. He asked the Rubber Development Corporation to gradually draw out its closing of the program until the end of the war, but was refused.
That same year Lescot extended his presidential term from five years to seven. By 1946, his attempts to muzzle the opposition press sparked fierce student demonstrations that gave way to a revolt across Port-au-Prince. Black-empowerment noirists, Marxists, and populist leaders joined forces in opposition. Crowds protested outside the National Palace
, workers went on strike and the homes of authorities were ransacked. Another significant disadvantage to Lescot was the fact that his mulatto-dominated government also earned him great disdain among Haiti's predominately black military Garde.
Lescot tried to order the Military Guard to break up the demonstrations but was rebuffed. Convinced their lives were in danger, Lescot and his cabinet fled into exile. A three-person military junta took power in his place and pledged to organize elections. In the immediate aftermath of Lescot's exile, an independent radio and print press flourished and long-repressed dissident groups expressed optimism about Haiti's future. Dumarsais Estimé
eventually succeeded Lescot as head of the republic, becoming Haiti's first black president since the US occupation.
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
from May 15, 1941 to January 11, 1946. He was a member of the country's light-skinned elite and used the political climate of World War II to sustain his power and ties to the United States, Haiti's powerful northern neighbor. His administration presided over a period of economic downturn and harsh political repression of dissidents.
Early life
Lescot was born a mulatto in Saint-Louis du Nord, Haiti to a middle-class family. He traveled to Port-au-PrincePort-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
to study pharmacy after completing his secondary education in Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
, before settling in Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix
Port-de-Paix is a city and the capital of the département of Nord-Ouest in Haïti on the Atlantic coast. It has a population of 250,000 ....
working in the export-import business. He entered politics after his first wife died 1911, becoming elected to the Chamber of Deputies two years later. After a four-year stay in France during the US occupation of Haiti, he returned and held posts in the Borno
Louis Borno
Eustache Antoine Francois Joseph Louis Borno was a lawyer and Haitian politician. He served as President of the Republic of Haiti from 1922 to 1930 during the period of the American occupation of Haiti...
and Vincent
Sténio Vincent
Sténio Joseph Vincent was President of Haiti from November 18, 1930 to May 15, 1941.In October 1930 Haitians chose a national assembly for the first time since 1918, which elected Vincent as President of Haiti...
administrations. Four years later he was named ambassador to the neighboring Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, where he forged an alliance with the President Rafael Trujillo, until moving to Washington, D.C. to work as ambassador to the United States.
Wartime election
His close political and economic ties to the United States helped lay the groundwork for his ascendancy to Haiti's Presidency and he received the State Department's tacit backing for his campaign to succeed Sténio VincentSténio Vincent
Sténio Joseph Vincent was President of Haiti from November 18, 1930 to May 15, 1941.In October 1930 Haitians chose a national assembly for the first time since 1918, which elected Vincent as President of Haiti...
in 1941. Prominent members of the Chamber of Deputies opposed his candidacy, arguing Haiti needed a black president. Taking the advantage of Trujillo's wealth of influence, he was able to buy his way into power. He won 56 out of 58 votes cast by legislators. Deputy Max Hudicourt
Max Hudicourt
Max Hudicourt was a Haïtian lawyer, journalist and leading socialist politician.Hudicourt was born in Port-au-Prince to an elite light-skinned family, but spent his childhood in Jérémie, his mother's hometown. He moved to Port-au-Prince at to pursue a higher education and attend Law School...
claimed the margin of victory was due to intimidation and beatings of legislators.
Lescot quickly moved to consolidate his control over the state apparatus, naming himself head of the Military Guard and appointing a clique of white and light-skinned members of the elite to major government posts, including his own sons. This action earned him great disdain among Haiti's mostly black population.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, he declared war on the Axis Powers and pledged all necessary support to the Allied war effort. His government offered refuge to European Jews on Haitian soil in cooperation with the Dominican Republic's Trujillo. In 1942 Lescot claimed the war necessitated the suspension of the constitution and had the parliament give him unlimited executive powers. Political opponents were subject to physical harassment and surveillance by security forces.
Failed rubber cultivation program
As an Axis blockade cut off rubber supplies from the East, Lescot's administration began an ambitious program in cooperation with the United States to expand wartime production of rubber in the Haitian countryside. The Export-Import BankExport-Import Bank of the United States
The Export-Import Bank of the United States is the official export credit agency of the United States federal government. It was established in 1934 by an executive order, and made an independent agency in the Executive branch by Congress in 1945, for the purposes of financing and insuring...
in Washington granted $5 million in 1941 for the development of rubber plants in Haiti. The program was called Société Haïtiano-Américane de Développement Agricole (SHADA) and managed by American agronomist Thomas Fennell.
SHADA began production in 1941 with the provision of ample military support per contract with the US government. By 1943, an estimated 47177 acres (190.9 km²) where cleared for the planting of cryptostegia
Cryptostegia
Cryptostegia is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It consists of three species of thin, many-stemmed, woody, perennial vines native to tropical Africa and Madagascar. The milky sap, that oozes from the stems or leaves, is extremely toxic to all livestock. It contains...
vine, which was considered to yield high amounts of latex. The program eventually claimed over 100,000 hectares of land. Farmers in Haiti's northern countryside were lured from food crop cultivation to meet increasing demand for rubber.
Lescot energetically campaigned on SHADA's behalf, arguing the program would modernize Haitian agriculture, in tandem with a robust public relations campaign by the United States.
Peasant families were forcibly removed from Haiti's most arable tracts of land. After nearly a million fruit-bearing trees in Jérémie
Jérémie
Jérémie is the capital city of the department of Grand'Anse, in Haiti, with a population of about 31,000 . It is almost isolated from the rest of the country...
were cut down and peasant houses invaded or razed, the Haitian Minister of Agriculture, Maurice Dartigue, wrote to Fennell asking him to respect "the mentality and legitimate interests of the Haitian peasant and city-dwellers."
But yields did not meet expectations and insufficient amounts of rubber were produced for to generate significant exports. Droughts contributed to poor harvests.
"The worst thing that can be said of SHADA is that they are doing [their operations] at considerable expense to the American taxpayer and in a manner that does not command the respect of the Haitian people", concluded a survey by the US military. The US government offered $175,000 as compensation to displaced peasants after recommending the program's cancellation.
Lescot feared SHADA's termination would add the burden of higher unemployment (at its height it employed over 90,000 people) to a sinking economy and hurt his public image. He asked the Rubber Development Corporation to gradually draw out its closing of the program until the end of the war, but was refused.
Decline and exile
With his government near bankruptcy and a flagging economy, Lescot pleaded unsuccessfully with the United States for an extension on debt repayments. Relations between Lescot and Trujillo in the Dominican Republic broke down. In Haiti he expanded the corps of the Military Guard, including a core of light-skinned commanding officers. A system of rural police chiefs, known as 'chef de section,' ruled by force and intimidation. In 1944 low-ranking black soldiers plotting rebellion were caught and seven of them were executed without court-martial.That same year Lescot extended his presidential term from five years to seven. By 1946, his attempts to muzzle the opposition press sparked fierce student demonstrations that gave way to a revolt across Port-au-Prince. Black-empowerment noirists, Marxists, and populist leaders joined forces in opposition. Crowds protested outside the National Palace
National Palace (Haiti)
The National Palace is located in Port-au-Prince—facing Place L'Ouverture near the Champs de Mars—and is the official residence of the Haitian president. It was almost completely destroyed in the 2010 Haiti earthquake...
, workers went on strike and the homes of authorities were ransacked. Another significant disadvantage to Lescot was the fact that his mulatto-dominated government also earned him great disdain among Haiti's predominately black military Garde.
Lescot tried to order the Military Guard to break up the demonstrations but was rebuffed. Convinced their lives were in danger, Lescot and his cabinet fled into exile. A three-person military junta took power in his place and pledged to organize elections. In the immediate aftermath of Lescot's exile, an independent radio and print press flourished and long-repressed dissident groups expressed optimism about Haiti's future. Dumarsais Estimé
Dumarsais Estimé
Dumarsais Estimé served as the President of Haïti from 16 August 1946 until 10 May 1950. He was the first black head of state since the US occupation of Haiti ended in 1934.-Early life:...
eventually succeeded Lescot as head of the republic, becoming Haiti's first black president since the US occupation.