Luckner Cambronne (30 October 193024 September 2006) was a high-ranking political figure in

François Duvalier François Duvalier (; 14 April 190721 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haitian politician of French Martiniquan descent who served as the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in the 1957 general election on ...

's regime in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. Cambronne was born the son of a poor preacher and had a career as a bank teller. His alliance with

, the Haitian politician who became

President of Haiti The president of Haiti ( ht, Prezidan peyi Ayiti, french: Président d'Haïti), officially called the president of the Republic of Haiti (french: link=no, Président de la République d'Haïti, ht, link=no, Prezidan Repiblik Ayiti), is the head ...

, led to Cambronne's rising to the number two position in power. In his political career, Cambronne started out as a messenger for Duvalier. After developing a reputation for enforcement and cruelty, he quickly rose in his administration. He was appointed

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and National Defense under Duvalier. Cambronne became Duvalier's second in command and head of his fearsome private militia, popularly known as the ''

Tonton Macoute The Tonton Macoute ( ht, Tonton Makout) or simply the Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. In 1970 the militia was renamed the ' (VSN, Voluntee ...

s''. Cambronne's reign was characterized by his

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

campaign: the use of public funds for his personal businesses and enterprises. As head of the ''Tonton Macoutes'', Cambronne led a campaign of

state terrorism State terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which a state conducts against another state or against its own citizens.Martin, 2006: p. 111. Definition There is neither an academic nor an international legal consensus regarding the proper def ...

against all opposition, having opponents threatened, attacked, murdered and "

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

"."Luckner Cambronne" - Obituaries
''The Independent'' (UK), 6 October 2006, accessed 1 August 2008] He was known as the "Vampire of the Caribbean" for his profiting from the sale of Haitian blood and cadavers to the West for medical uses. Critics accused his forces of picking people to murder to provide bodies for such shipments. Cambronne was co-owner of Hemo-Caribbean, a plasma center in Port-au-Prince that operated from 1971 to 1972 and had poor hygiene standards. A 1972 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' story reported that Hemo-Caribbean exported 1,600 gallons of plasma to the United States a month. Without appropriate preventive action, diseases can easily be transferred from one donor to another through the reuse of blood tubing. The book ''The Origin of AIDS'' by

Jacques Pépin Jacques Pépin (; born December 18, 1935) is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist. After having been the personal chef of French President Charles de Gaulle, he moved to the US in 1959 and after working ...

argues that Hemo-Caribbean was a major "amplifier" of the

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

crisis, which he says had likely crossed over from Africa to Haiti through a single carrier around 1966. After the death of François Duvalier in 1971, Cambronne was said to be interested in becoming

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

under his son and successor,

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( ht, Bebe Dòk), was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father F ...

. Jean-Claude's mother,

Simone Duvalier Simone Duvalier (; '' née'' Ovide; 19 March 1913 – 26 December 1997), also known as Mama Doc, was the wife of Haitian leader François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and the First Lady of Haiti. Early life She was born Simone Ovide in about 1913 ...

, outmaneuvered Cambronne and insisted on his exile.Haiti: Notes on Papa Doc Duvalier
He was replaced by

Roger Lafontant Roger Lafontant (1931–September 29, 1991) was the former leader of the Tonton Macoutes and the former Minister of Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. He was the leader of an attempted coup d'état in January 1991, an effort which ultimatel ...

as leader of the ''Tonton Macoutes'' and Minister. Cambronne moved to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, USA in 1972. He died there in exile on 24 September 2006.

Cultural references

*A character loosely based on Cambronne, named Captain Dargent Peytraud, appears in the cult horror film '' The Serpent and the Rainbow''. The Peytraud character is additionally depicted as a ''

bokor A bokor (male) ht, bòkò) or caplata (female) is a Vodou witch for hire who is said to serve the loa "with both hands", practicing for both good and evil. Their practice includes the creation of zombies and of 'ouangas', talismans that house ...

'' (priest) in

Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cambronne, Luckner 1929 births 2006 deaths Haitian anti-communists Haitian politicians Haitian expatriates in the United States