How to Be a Dictator

by Frank Dikotter

  7NARA, RG 59, Box 3090, Gerald A. Drew, ‘Political Situation in Haiti’, 3 Aug. 1957.

  8Bernard Diederich, The Price of Blood: History of Repression and Rebellion in Haiti Under Dr. François Duvalier, 1957–1961, Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 2011, pp. 17–18.

  9NARA, RG 59, Box 3090, Gerald A. Drew, ‘Political Situation in Haiti’, 3 Aug. 1957.

  10Mats Lundahl, ‘Papa Doc: Innovator in the Predatory State’, Scandia, 50, no. 1 (1984), p. 48.

  11MAE, 96QO/24, Lucien Félix, ‘Conférence de presse de Duvalier’, 4 Oct. 1957; MAE, 96QO/24, Lucien Félix, ‘Un mois de pouvoir du président Duvalier’, 22 Nov. 1957; NARA, RG 59, Box 3090, ‘Harassment of Haitian Labor Leaders’, 10 Jan. 1958; Virgil P. Randolph, ‘Haitian Political Situation’, 30 Jan. 1958.

  12Haiti Sun, 24 Dec. 1957, p. 11; Louis E. Lomax, ‘Afro Man Chased out of Haiti’, Baltimore Afro-American, 15 Oct. 1957; Stephen Jay Berman, ‘Duvalier and the Press’, MA in Journalism, University of Southern California, 1974, p. 28.

  13NARA, RG 59, Box 3090, Virgil P. Randolph, ‘Haitian Political Situation’, 30 Jan. 1958; Louis E. Lomax, ‘Afro Man Chased out of Haiti’, Baltimore Afro-American, 15 Oct. 1957.

  14MAE, 96QO/24, Lucien Félix, ‘Un mois de pouvoir du président Duvalier’, 22 Nov. 1957; NARA, RG 59, Box 3090, ‘Harassment of Haitian Labor Leaders’, 10 Jan. 1958; Virgil P. Randolph, ‘Haitian Political Situation’, 30 Jan. 1958.

  15MAE, 96QO/25, Lucien Félix, telegram, 13 March 1958; NARA, RG 59, Box 3090, Virgil P. Randolph, ‘Haitian Political Situation’, 30 Jan. 1958.

  16NARA, RG 59, Box 3092, Virgil P. Randolph, ‘Joint Weeka No. 32’, 6 Aug. 1958; MAE, 96QO/25, ‘Lucien Félix, ‘Le coup de main du 29 juillet 1958’, 31 July 1958.

  17Robert D. Heinl and Nancy Gordon Heinl, Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People, 1492–1995, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998, p. 572; Robert I. Rotberg, Haiti: The Politics of Squalor, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971, pp. 215–16.

  18MAE, 96QO/25, Lucien Félix, ‘La nouvelle constitution de la République d’Haiti’, 17 April 1958; Lundahl, ‘Papa Doc’, p. 60.

  19Elizabeth Abbott, Haiti: The Duvaliers and Their Legacy, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988, pp. 91–2.

  20Bernard Diederich and Al Burt, Papa Doc: Haiti and its Dictator, London: Bodley Head, 1969, p. 139; Rotberg, Haiti, p. 218.

  21Lundahl, ‘Papa Doc’, p. 60.

  22MAE, 96QO/25, Lucien Félix, ‘La situation politique et économique en Haiti’, 3 Feb. 1959; ‘Voyage du Président’, 18 March 1959.

  23NARA, RG 59, Box 3092, ‘Joint Weeka No. 22’, 5 June 1959; NARA, RG 59, Box 3093, Gerald A. Drew ‘Embtel 423’, 3 June 1959; Rotberg, Haiti, p. 218.

  24NARA, RG 59, Box 3093, Gerald A. Drew, ‘President François Duvalier Resumes Active Duty’, 7 July 1959.

  25NARA, RG 59, Box 3091, Philip P. Williams, ‘Executive-Legislative Relations’, 23 Sept. 1959; Rotberg, Haiti, pp. 220–21.

  26NARA, RG 59 Box 7, Caspar D. Green, ‘Memorandum’, United States Operations Mission, 13 May 1960.

  27MAE, 96QO/26, ‘Evolution vers l’extrémisme de gauche’, 9 Aug. 1960; also Charles le Genissel, ‘Arrestation de M. Clément Barbot’, 6 Aug. 1960; NARA, RG 59, Box 1633, Letter to Secretary of State from Haitian Ambassador, 15 July 1960; ‘Civilian Militia Palace Parade’, Haiti Sun, 7 Dec. 1960, pp. 1 and 20.

  28MAE, 96QO/26, ‘Bulletin Mensuel d’Information’, 13 April 1961; NARA, RG 59, Box 1633, Letter to Secretary of State from Haitian Ambassador, Charles Wm Thomas, ‘Haiti Re-Elects President’, 9 May 1961.

  29NARA, RG 59, Box 1633, David. R Thomson, ‘Political Events in Haiti’, 21 May 1961.

  30MAE, 96QO/26, Charles le Genissel, ‘Prestation de serment du docteur Duvalier’, 25 May 1961; NARA, RG 59, Box 1634, Ambassy Port-au-Prince, ‘Joint Weeka No. 21’, 26 May 1961.

  31NARA, RG 59, Box 3922, ‘Joint Weeka No. 29’, 20 July 1963; Berman, ‘Duvalier and the Press’, p. 57.

  32Dee, ‘Duvalier’s Haiti’, pp. 154–7; Diederich, Papa Doc, pp. 216–17; Berman, ‘Duvalier and the Press’, p. 62.

  33MAE, 96QO/27, Charles le Genissel, ‘Mesures exceptionelles’, 29 Aug. 1963; NARA, RG 59, Box 3922, ‘Joint Weeka No. 38’, 22 Sept. 1963.

  34Rotberg, Haiti, p. 233; NARA, RG 59, Box 3923, Norman E. Warner, ‘Duvalier Speech on September 30, 1963’, 8 Oct. 1963; Hispanic American Report, vol. 16, no. 8 (Sept. 1963), p. 869; NARA, RG 59, Box 1634, ‘Joint Weekas No. 24 and 29’, 16 June and 21 July 1961.

  35MAE, 96QO/54, ‘Présidence à vie’, 13 April 1964; Dee, ‘Duvalier’s Haiti’, pp. 177–8.

  36NARA, RG 59, Box 2262, ‘Joint Weeka No. 26’, 26 June 1964; NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Build-Up Begins for May 22 Celebrations’, 20 May 1964.

  37Jean Fourcand, Catéchisme de la révolution, Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de l’Etat, 1964, p. 17.

  38NARA, RG 59, Box 2262, ‘Joint Weeka No. 38’, 18 Sept. 1964.

  39Rotberg, Haiti, pp. 239–42.

  40Richard West, ‘Haiti: Hell on Earth’, New Statesman, 29 April 1966, translation into French in MAE, 96QO/54, ‘Articles et documents’, 12–19 Aug. 1966; ‘Crushing a Country’, Time magazine, 27 Aug. 1965; starvation reports in NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 46’, 12 Nov. 1965.

  41Rotberg, Haiti, p. 243; Millery Polyné, From Douglass to Duvalier: U. S. African Americans, Haiti, and Pan Americanism, 1870–1964, Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2010, p. 190.

  42Rotberg, Haiti, p. 344; Michel Soukar, Un général parle: Entretien avec un Chef d’état-major sous François Duvalier, Port-au-Prince: Le Natal, 1987, p. 56.

  43NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 25’, 20 June 1965.

  44NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 46’, 12 Nov. 1965.

  45Rotberg, Haiti, p. 247; NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 16’, 24 April 1966.

  46NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 16’, 24 April 1966; Confidential telegram to Department of State, 26 April 1966.

  47NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 24’, 19 June 1966.

  48NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Alleged Statement by Haile Sellasie’, 8 May 1966.

  49NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, Confidential telegram to Department of State, 9 June 1966; ‘Duvalier October 26 Speech’, 18 Dec. 1966.

  50NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 30’, 31 July 1966; ‘Joint Weeka No. 36’, 9 Sept. 1966.

  51NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 30’, 31 July 1966; ‘Confidential Report’, 2 Sept. 1966; NARA, RG 59, Box 2172, ‘Joint Weeka No. 43’, 29 Oct. 1967.

  52NARA, RG 59, Box 2263, ‘Joint Weeka No. 30’, 31 July 1966; ‘Confidential Report’, 2 Sept. 1966.

  53NARA, RG 59, Box 2172, ‘Joint Weeka No. 15’, 16 April 1967; ‘The Birthday Blowout’, Time magazine, 28 April 1967.

  54Abbott, Haiti, p. 144; ‘Coming to a Boil’, Time magazine, 25 Aug. 1967.

  55NARA, RG 59, Box 2172, ‘Joint Weeka No. 25’, 25 June 1967; see also, Abbott, Haiti, p. 145.

  56NARA, RG 59, Box 2172, ‘Joint Weeka No. 11’, 19 March 1967; NARA, RG 59, Box 2172, ‘Joint Weeka No. 37’, 24 Sept. 1967; NARA, RG 59 Box 5, ‘Haiti’, 26 Sept. 1967.

  57NARA, RG 59, Box 2173, ‘Duvalier Speaks Extemporaneously Again’, 5 Nov. 1967; ‘Joint Weeka No. 37’, 24 Sept. 1967.

  58On radio see NARA, RG 59, Box 2172, ‘Joint Weeka No. 2’, 14 Jan. 1968.

  59Rotberg, Haiti, pp. 350–66.

  60NARA, RG 59, Box 2172, ‘Trip Report: Northwest Department of Haiti’, 29 Dec. 1968.

  61Rotberg, Haiti, p. 235.

  62MAE, 96QO/56, Philippe Koening, ‘La rébellion du 24 avril’, 10 June 1970; ‘Action anti-communiste’, 30 April 1969; Abbott, Haiti, p. 152; Marquis, Papa Doc, p. 264.

  63MAE, 96QO/73, Philippe Koenig, ‘Haiti après la mort du Président François Duvalier’, 28 April 1971; NARA, RG 59, Box 2346, ‘Political/Economic Summary No. 3’, 21 Feb. 1971; ‘Political/Economic Summary No. 8’, 8 May 1971.

  CHAPTER 7 CEAU
ŞESCU

  1‘Obituary: Anca Petrescu’, Daily Telegraph, 1 Nov. 2013; Robert Bevan, The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War, London: Reaktion Books, 2006, pp. 127–31.

  2John Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceauşescu, London: Hutchinson, 1991, pp. 44–51.

  3Dennis Deletant, Communist Terror in Romania: Gheorghiu-Dej and the Police State, 1948–1965, New York: St Martin’s Press, 1999.

  4Alice Mocanescu, ‘Surviving 1956: Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and the “Cult of Personality” in Romania’ in Apor Balázs, Jan C. Behrends, Polly Jones and E. A. Rees (eds), The Leader Cult in Communist Dictatorships: Stalin and the Eastern Bloc, Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 256; ‘Rumania: Want amid Plenty’, Time magazine, 8 June 1962.

  5Mary Ellen Fisher, Ceauşescu: A Study in Political Leadership, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1989, pp. 49–52; Vladimir Tismaneanu, Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003, p. 176.

  6Fisher, Ceauşescu, p. 69.

  7MAE, 201QO/167, Jean-Louis Pons, ‘50eme anniversaire de Mr. Ceausescu’, 30 Jan. 1968.

  8Fisher, Ceauşescu, pp. 133–9.

  9Ibid., pp. 143–5.

  10Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, p. 95.

  11Strictly speaking, one other leader remained from the Gheorghiu Dej Politburo, namely Emil Bodnaras, but he was sick and did not attend the congress; Fisher, Ceauşescu, pp. 154–7.

  12Fisher, Ceauşescu, pp. 92–3; OSA, 300-8-3-5811, ‘Nicolae Ceausescu and the Politics of Leadership’, 29 March 1973, pp. 16–18.

  13ANR, 2574-72-1971, Minutes of the Executive Committee (Politburo) meeting, 25 June 1971, p. 11.

  14Ibid.

  15Ibid., pp. 45–6; OSA, 300-8-47-188-23, Rumanian Situation Report, 13 July 1971, pp. 9–11.

  16Fisher, Ceauşescu, p. 126.

  17OSA, 300-8-47-188-23, Rumanian Situation Report, 13 July 1971, pp. 9–11; the reference to a ‘New Man’ is from party secretary Popescu; see OSA, 300-8-47-188-24, Rumanian Situation Report, 20 July 1971, p. 13.

  18The row between Ceauşescu and Iliescu is mentioned in Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, p. 102.

  19Michel-Pierre Hamelet, Nicolae Ceausescu: Présentation, choix de textes, aperçu historique, documents photographiques, Paris: Seghers, 1971.

  20ANR, 2898-19-1976, List of books on Nicolae Ceauşescu published abroad, 4 March 1976, pp. 1–6; OSA, 300-8-47-201-3, ‘Situation Report’, 9 Feb. 1978, p. 9.

  21ANR, 2898-10-1973, Note of the Foreign Relations Section, 28 May 1973, pp. 12–13.

  22The exact amount was 7.5 million lire; see ANR, 2898-21-1971, Note of the Foreign Relations Section of the Central Committee, 4 Sept. 1971, p. 102; see also Günther Heyden, Report on a visit to the Romanian Institute for Historical and Social-Political Studies, 27 Sept. 1971, DY 30/IVA 2/20/357, pp. 377–8.

  23OSA, 300-8-3-5811, ‘Nicolae Ceausescu and the Politics of Leadership’, 29 March 1973, pp. 3–15.

  24ANR, 2574-31-1974, Transcript of the Executive Committee (Politburo) of the Central Committee meeting, 27 March 1974, p. 50–59.

  25Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, p. 105.

  26Fisher, Ceauşescu, pp. 184–5 and 212–13; Anneli Ute Gabanyi, The Ceauşescu Cult: Propaganda and Power Policy in Communist Romania, Bucharest: The Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House, 2000, pp. 17–18; Thomas J. Keil, Romania’s Tortured Road toward Modernity, New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, p. 301.

  27ANR, 2898-19-1976, List of books on Nicolae Ceauşescu published abroad, 4 March 1976, pp. 1–6.

  28OSA, 300-8-3-5850, ‘Ceausescu’s Ideological Role is Strengthened’, 29 July 1976, pp. 1–9.

  29Ibid., p. 7.

  30OSA, 300-8-47-201-3, ‘Situation Report’, 9 Feb. 1978, p. 2.

  31OSA, 300-8-47-201-3, ‘Situation Report’, 9 Feb. 1978, p. 3; PRO, FCO 28/3444, R. A. Burns, ‘President Ceauşescu’s 60th Birthday’, 8 Feb. 1978, pp. 4–5.

  32OSA, 300-8-47-201-3, ‘Situation Report’, 9 Feb. 1978, pp. 6–10.

  33PRO, FCO 28/3407, R. L. Secondé, ‘President Ceausescu of Romania: A Summary’, 24 April 1978, pp. 4–5; Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, pp. 111–20.

  34Pacepa went on to write a damning memoir of the Ceauşescu regime, entitled Red Horizons: The True Story of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescus’ Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption, Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 1990.

  35ANR, 2898-28-1977, Inventories of foreign medals and decorations awarded to Elena and Nicolae Ceauşescu, 21 Nov. 1977, pp. 1–16.

  36The East Germans described the Pirvulescu affair in BArch, DY 30/IV 2/2.035/52, 23 Nov. 1979, pp. 2–7; see also Fisher, Ceauşescu, p. 240.

  37Jonathan Eyal, ‘Why Romania Could Not Avoid Bloodshed’ in Gwyn Prins (ed.), Spring in Winter: The 1989 Revolutions, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1990, pp. 149–50.

  38OSA, 300-8-47-204-10, ‘Situation Report’, 22 July 1980, pp. 2–5; MAE, 1929INVA/4629, Pierre Cerles, Ambassador’s Report, 22 Dec. 1980.

  39MAE, 1929INVA/4630, ‘Situation en Roumanie’, 20 Dec. 1980.

  40Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, pp. 130–33.

  41OSA, 300-8-3-5914, Anneli Maier, ‘Anniversary of the 1965 RCP Congress’, 11 Aug. 1982, pp. 1–4.

  42BArch, DY 30/11599, June 1982, pp. 87–9.

  43MAE, 1930INVA/5471, Michel Rougagnou, ‘Célébration du vingtième anniversaire’, 23 July 1985.

  44ANR, 2898-80-1984, Rules for displaying the official portrait of Nicolae Ceauşescu, 7 March 1984, pp. 1–4; ANR, 2989-21-1984, Note on the new ABECEDAR, 1984, p. 8.

  45ANR, 2898-32-1985, Report on special programmes dedicated to the sixty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the communist party, 1985, pp. 1–4.

  46David Binder, ‘The Cult of Ceausescu’, New York Times, 30 Nov. 1986.

  47ANR, 2898-36-1984, Transcript of a meeting between Nicolae Ceauşescu and representatives of the Union of Visual Artist, 18 Sept. 1984, pp. 2–6.

  48Lucian Boia, Romania: Borderland of Europe, London: Reaktion Books, 2001, pp. 288–90.

  49Gabriel Ronay, ‘Romania Plans Village Blitz’, Sunday Times, 23 May 1988; OSA, 300-8-47-212-11, ‘The Rural Resettlement Plan’, 16 Sept. 1988, p. 13.

  50Binder, ‘The Cult of Ceausescu’.

  51MAE, 1930INVA/5471, Michel Rougagnou, ‘Célébration du vingtième anniversaire’, 23 July 1985; Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, pp. 157–8.

  52Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, p. 158.

  53The numbers are from MAE, 1930INVA/5471, Michel Rougagnou, ‘La vie du parti dans l’entreprise’, 6 Oct. 1983.

  54MAE, 1930INVA/4630, Pierre Cerles, ‘Le communisme à la roumaine’, 24 May 1978.

  55OSA, 300-8-47-211-1, ‘Ceausescu Rejects Soviet-Style Reform’, 6 Feb. 1980, pp. 3–6.

  56Sweeney, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, pp. 172–4.

  57MAE, 1935INVA/6478, Jean-Marie Le Breton, ‘Campagne d’élections’, 16 Nov. 1989.

  58Peter Siani-Davies, The Romanian Revolution of December 1989, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007, pp. 81–2; Emma Graham-Harrison, ‘“I’m Still Nervous”, Says Soldier who Shot Nicolae Ceausescu’, Guardian, 7 Dec. 2014.

  CHAPTER 8 MENGISTU

  1Estelle Sohier, ‘Politiques de l’image et pouvoir royal en Éthiopie de Menilek II à Haylä Sellasé (1880–1936)’, doctoral dissertation, University of Paris 1, 2007, pp. 159–69.

  2PRO, FCO 31/1829, Willie Morris, ‘Annual Review for 1974’, 6 Feb. 1975.

  3Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia, London: James Currey, 2001, p. 234.

  4PRO, FCO 31/1829, Willie Morris, ‘Annual Review for 1974’, 6 Feb. 1975.

  5Ibid.

  6Richard J. Reid, Frontiers of Violence in North-East Africa: Genealogies of Conflict since c.1800, Oxford: Oxford Universi
ty Press, 2011, p. 174; Christopher Clapham, Transformation and Continuity in Revolutionary Ethiopia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 41.

  7Shambel Tesfaye Reste Mekonnen, Misikirnet be Derg Abalat (Testimonies of Derg members), Addis Ababa, 2007, p. 164; PRO, FCO 31/2093, D. M. Day, ‘Mengistu’, 15 June 1977.

  8Ethiopian Herald, 21 Dec. 1974 and 30 Jan. 1975; Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia, London: Hurst, 2000, p. 290; Andargatchew Tiruneh, The Ethiopian Revolution 1974–87, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 102–3.

  9Begashaw Gobaw Tashu, Yecoloel Mengistu Haile Maryam ena Yederggemenawoch (Secrets of Mengistu Haile Mariam and the Derg), Addis Ababa: Far East Trading, 2008, p. 220.

  10Babile Tola, To Kill a Generation: The Red Terror in Ethiopia, Washington, DC: Free Ethiopia Press, 1989, pp. 38–9; PRO, FCO 31-2098, ‘Annual Review for 1976’, 3 Jan. 1977.

  11Ethiopian Herald, 29 Sept. 1976; PRO, FCO 31/2098, ‘Annual Review for 1976’, 3 Jan. 1977; Henze, Layers of Time, p. 291.

  12Eshetu Wendemu Hailesselasie, Heiwot Be Mengistu Betemengist (Life at the palace during Mengistu’s time), Addis Ababa: Zed Printing House, 2010, pp. 81–90.

  13Ethiopian Herald, 5 Feb. 1977.

  14Feseha Desta, Abyotuna Tezetaye (My reminiscences of the revolution), Addis Ababa: Tsehay Asatami Derejet, 2008, p. 80; Geset Techane (pen name Zenebe Feleke), Neber (Was), Addis Ababa: Hetemet Alfa Asatamewoch, 2007, p. 238; Baalu Girma, Oromay (The end), Addis Ababa: Mankusa Asatami, 1983, pp. 21 and 50.

  15Fekreselasie Wegderes, Egnana Abyotu (We and the Revolution), Addis Ababa: Tsehay Akefafay Derejet, 2006, pp. 75–6; Baalu, Oromay, pp. 24 and 50–54.

  16Ethiopian Herald, 5 Feb. 1977; Begashaw, Yecoloel Mengistu Haile Maryam, p. 291.

  17Marina and David Ottaway, Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution, New York: Africana Publishing, 1978, pp. 142–6; Judith Ashakih, Gift of Incense: A Story of Love and Revolution in Ethiopia, Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press, 2005, p. 290; Stéphane Courtois et al. (eds), The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999, p. 691.

  18‘Farewell to American Arms’, Time magazine, 9 May 1977.

  19David A. Korn, Ethiopia, the United States and the Soviet Union, Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986, pp. 28–9.