1964, November 12: (The Televised Execution of Drouin and Numa: The Cemetery Wall Where Coicou Had Died, Schoolchildren Bussed to Watch, and the Corpse of Ca…

1964, November 12: (The Televised Execution of Drouin and Numa: The Cemetery Wall Where Coicou Had Died, Schoolchildren Bussed to Watch, and the Corpse of Captain Laraque Facing WELCOME TO HAITI): Two of the thirteen Jeune Haïti men — Louis Drouin and Marcel Numa, lone noir among the band — had fallen into government hands alive. After fearful tortures, at seven on the morning of November 12 they were driven by jeep to the cemetery wall where Massillon Coicou had died, pinioned to pine posts beside their graves, and shot by a nine-man firing squad personally commanded by Colonel Franck Romain. The proceedings were televised and rebroadcast daily for a week — Duvalier had declared a public holiday, closed all shops, and bussed schoolchildren to the Cimetière. Afterward the crowd was marched to the National Palace, where Duvalier, acceding to its solicitations, appeared on the balcony to smile and wave. To give a grisly example to Port-au-Prince — which Duvalier reportedly told assembled miliciens he was prepared to burn if opposition was not quelled — the body of Captain Yvan Laraque, killed during a rearguard fight, was flown to the capital, where on public view facing the Grand’Rue exit from the airport, the swollen, flyblown corpse, flung over a wooden chair clad only in jockey shorts, was left to rot. Across the street a large sign told tourists: WELCOME TO HAITI.