SUMMARY

Part of the history behind the conflict between the Supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the Supporters of Roger Lafontant could arguably be traced back to the time of the Duvalier regimes. Lafontant was a member of the younger Duvalier’s regime and a friend of the older Duvalier. Lafontant was also rumored to be the leader of the notorious Tonton Macoutes, a secret army formed during the Duvalier times.

Following the fall of the Duvalier regime in 1986 Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and many of his close supporters went into exile. As Lafontant was a supporter of the old regime he was very unpopular among those who had been badly affected by Duvalier’s actions, and so were his supporters.

When Lafontant was identified as the person behind a coup that aimed to stop Aristide from becoming president, the Supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide lashed out against the supporters of the coup maker, i.e. Supporters of Roger Lafontant, but also against the former regime.

The non-state conflict between the Supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the Supporters of Roger Lafontant is first included in UCDP data in 1991. In January of that year violent clashes flared up following a coup attempt in Port-Au-Prince, resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.