Belair militiamen are called out when rebels invade

When armed rebels entered Haiti in August 1963, some tontons macoutes from Upper Belair took part in the fighting against them. The men came from a neighbourhood political office that kept more than five hundred volunteers on call. That office had begun life as a cultural association with a president, a treasurer and a general secretary who kept minutes. When it was turned into an arm of the government the treasurer and secretary became empty titles, because there were no funds and no meetings to record, and three new units were created in their place: four men for discipline, four for internal organisation and four for recruiting and training members. A slum district thereby held a standing reserve that could be moved to a border province within days. The same men handled quarrels between neighbours, watched the numbers sellers and reported on each other.