423. Telegram 182198 From the Department of State to the Embassy in Haiti1
182198. Subject: Coup Plotting Against the Government of Jean-Claude Duvalier by Senior Haitian Government Officials.
[1 paragraph (8 lines) not declassified]
1. [5 lines not declassified]
2. On 15 July 1976 a high-ranking official of the Government of Haiti (GOH) said that a number of senior members of the GOH had agreed on a plan to overthrow the government of President Jean-Claude Duvalier. The official said that the coup d’état had been planned so as to be executed in series of orderly steps designed to avoid bloodshed. He refused to speculate on a timetable for the actual replacement of Duvalier.
3. The official said that one of the first steps was to reduce the influence of Henri Siclait, Director of the government’s tobacco monopoly and behind-the-scenes power in Palace politics. This step was already in motion as a result of sharply increasing differences between Madame Simone Duvalier, Siclait’s greatest ally and the President. The official added that the President was not actively challenging the influence of his mother and Siclait within the Palace.
4. Another preliminary step was to replace the present “Chief of Internal Security,” who has had a secret working relationship with Siclait unbeknownst to the President. (Source comment: This person could be Luc Desir, Chief of the Volunteers for National Security (VSN), Lieutenant Colonel Jean Valme, Chief of the Presidential Security Service, or another official. His name was not given.)
5. The official described the plotters as experienced members of the intellectual elite of Haiti. He said that they included Emmanuel Bros, Secretary of State for Finance, and Gerard Dorcely, Subsecretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He said that military leaders, including Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Hilaire, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, were totally disaffected with Duvalier’s lack of leadership, and that they felt concerned and threatened by the President’s recent intense in [Page 1087] terest in the Military Academy, the National Training School for officers. He added that high-ranking officers were convinced that Duvalier planned to replace senior officers with hand-picked junior officers from the military academy.
6. Finally, the official emphasized that the coup plotters desired to maintain good relations with the United States Government. He also stressed the point that none of the plotters was a Communist nor was there any Communist influence in the planned coup d’état.
7. [2½ lines not declassified]
8. [5½ lines not declassified]
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Summary: The Department forwarded information indicating that senior Haitian Government officials and military officers were disaffected with Duvalier’s lack of leadership and had agreed on a plan to overthrow the President.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D760285–0376, D760283–0869. Secret; Stadis; Exdis. Drafted by Strasser, cleared by Heavner, Ortiz, and Kaiser, and approved by Luers. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text that remains classified.
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