HIM Emperor Haile Selassie Visits Haiti - 1966 - During World Friendship Tour

 

Francois Duvalier received Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1966

Here is a picture of Haitian Dictator Francois Duvalier with Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia as he briefly visited Haiti in 1966

The King of Kings met the President for Life when he traveled to Haiti in 1966, becoming the only head of state to visit Haiti during the presidency of Francois Duvalier. President Duvalier, being a proponent of the black nationalist platform, was a supporter of the Pan-African model of excellence, and welcomed the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie I with open arms.

During his own rule, Duvalier became almost as popular as Emperor Selassie through his forceful might held by the use of fear and murder. His family became ridiculously wealthy through the country's

coffers, as Duvalier explicitly appropriated state money, much of which came from aid funds given by other countries, into his personal accounts, all this while the population was impoverished. Because of his notorious reputation, Duvalier was forced to be under heavy guard consisting of 600 officers in the palace guard, 350 soldiers in the Dessalines Barracks next door, thousands of militiamen and the fearsome Tontons Macoutes.

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ETHIOPIAN AND HAITIAN HISTORY - APRIL 24, 1966

HAITI RECEIVES EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE 

In 1966, Haiti welcomed one of the most symbolic black figures of the world. For the occasion, François Duvalier (left) had public settings redecorated in Port-au-Prince to match the national colours of Ethiopia. While Selassie was met with much euphoria in the capital, some historians maintain that François Duvalier attempted to put forward a new foreign policy agenda with such visit. Aware of his illness and of his regime’s unpopularity with foreign leaders, Duvalier was eager to accord diplomatic recognition to newly independent African states and to establish cordial ties with leaders of the continent in hopes of proving some consistency with his Noirist ideology and to demonstrate that his administration did possess some alignment beyond its professed anti-communism.

Image Courtesy of: Life Magazine.

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