Editing François Duvalier (section)

====United States====
His relationship with the United States proved difficult. In his early years, Duvalier rebuked the United States for its friendly relations with [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] dictator [[Rafael Trujillo]] (assassinated in 1961) while ignoring Haiti. The [[Kennedy administration]] (1961–1963) was particularly disturbed by Duvalier's repressive and totalitarian rule and allegations that he misappropriated aid money, at the time a substantial part of the Haitian budget, and a [[U.S. Marine Corps]] mission to train the {{nowrap|Tonton Macoute}}. The U.S. thus halted most of its economic assistance in mid-1962, pending stricter accounting procedures, with which Duvalier refused to comply. Duvalier publicly renounced all aid from Washington on nationalist grounds, portraying himself as a "principled and lonely opponent of domination by a {{nowrap|great power".<ref name="Haggerty 1991"/>{{rp|234}}}}

Duvalier misappropriated millions of dollars of international aid, including US$15&nbsp;million annually from the United States.<ref name="Shaw 2005">{{citation |mode=cs1 |last=Shaw |first=Karl |trans-title=Power Mad! |title=Šílenství mocných |date=2005 |publisher=Metafora |location=Prague |language=cs |isbn=978-80-7359-002-4 |oclc=85144913}}</ref>{{rp|50–51}} He transferred this money to personal accounts. Another of Duvalier's methods of obtaining foreign money was to gain foreign loans, including US$4&nbsp;million from {{nowrap|Cuban dictator [[Fulgencio Batista]].<ref name="Shaw 2005"/>{{rp|47–48}}}}

After the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]] in November 1963, which Duvalier later claimed resulted from a curse that he had placed on Kennedy,<ref name="Murray 2008">{{cite journal |last=Murray |first=Rolland |date=2008 |title=Black Crisis Shuffle: Fiction, Race, and Simulation |journal=African American Review |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=215–233 |jstor=40301207 |quote=Haitian president François "Papa&nbsp;Doc" Duvalier infamously claimed that his [Vodou] curse on John&nbsp;F. Kennedy brought about the President's 1963 assassination.}}</ref> the U.S. eased its pressure on Duvalier, grudgingly accepting him as a bulwark against [[communism]].<ref name="Haggerty 1991"/><ref name="Smucker 1991">{{citation |mode=cs1 |last=Smucker |first=Glenn R. |title=Dominican Republic and Haiti |edition=2nd |series=Country Studies |date=1991 |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-8444-0728-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dominicanrepubli0000hagg/page/346 346–349] |chapter=Haiti: Government and Politics §&nbsp;Foreign Relations |editor-last=Haggerty |editor-first=Richard A. |issn=1057-5294 |url=https://archive.org/details/dominicanrepubli0000hagg/page/346 |lccn=91-9495 |oclc=23179347 |ol=1531915M |chapter-url=http://dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a242550.pdf#page=401 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress  }}</ref> Duvalier attempted to exploit tensions between the U.S. and [[Cuba]], emphasizing his [[anti-communist]] credentials and Haiti's strategic location as a means of winning U.S. support:
{{quote|Communism has established centres of infection ... No area in the world is as vital to American security as the Caribbean ... We need a massive injection of money to reset the country on its feet, and this injection can come only from our great, capable friend and neighbor the United States.<ref name="Abbott 1988">{{citation |mode=cs1 |title=Haiti: The Duvaliers and Their Legacy |date=1988 |last=Abbott |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Abbott |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |edition=1st |isbn=978-0-07-046029-4 |lccn=88016918 |oclc=18069022 |ol=2040347M |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/haitiduvaliersth00abbo }}</ref>{{rp|101}}}}