Lescot, Élie (1883–1974)

Élie Lescot (b. 1883; d. 1974), Haitian dictator (1941–1946). Lescot, a native of Saint-Louis-du-Nord, was educated in Cap Haitien and received his doctorate from Laval University in Quebéc. Subsequently he was secretary of public education, justice, and the interior; envoy to the Dominican Republic; and a diplomat in the United States. His regime was known for its tyranny and corruption as well as for its close cooperation with U.S. government and business interests. Lescot established his dictatorship, in part, by taking advantage of circumstances produced by U.S. national and hemispheric security concerns after the outbreak of World War II. In the name of protecting Haiti from the Axis powers, he not only confiscated the property of Germans and Italians within the country, but also suspended the Haitian constitution. The regime also benefited from an influx of U.S. military and economic aid during the war period. U.S.-sponsored development projects went to enrich Lescot's family and friends. These included a project to grow sisal financed by the U.S.-controlled Société Haïtienne-Américaine du Développement Agricole (SHADA), to which Lescot made huge land concessions and which, in turn, led to the displacement of thousands of peasants.

Lescot's policies favored members of the country's mulatto elite and, generally, denied the aspirations and interests of blacks. Lescot excluded blacks from important positions in his government. He also attacked black folk culture by supporting the Roman Catholic Church's campaign against the vodun religion. Although this attack proved shortlived, it helped provoke widespread nationalist opposition to the regime. Lescot altered the constitution in order to extend his term of office and postponed elections, ostensibly because of World War II. By the end of 1945, students, workers, and intellectuals openly demanded an end to the dictatorship. Following the Revolution of 1946, Lescot was forced to resign on 11 January 1946. He was exiled to Canada.

See alsoWorld War II .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

David Nicholls, "Haiti Since 1930," in The Cambridge History of Latin America, vol. 7, edited by Leslie Bethell (1990), pp. 545-577.

Michel Rolph-Trouillot, Haiti: State Against Nation (1990).

Additional Bibliography

Smith, Michael J. Shades of Red in a Black Republic: Radicalism, Black Consciousness, and Social Conflict in Postoccupation Haiti, 1934–1957. Ph.D. diss., University of Florida, 2002.

                                          Pamela Murray