Haitian coup attempt, July 1958

On 28–29 July 1958, Alix "Sonson" Pasquet, accompanied by two fellow Haitian military officers and five American soldiers of fortune, attempted to overthrow Haitian President Francois Duvalier by seizing an army barracks in Port-au-Prince and rallying like-minded troops for an attack in the Presidential palace. Hoped-for support failed to materialize and all eight of the insurgents were killed by troops loyal to Duvalier.

Contemporary newspaper articles sometimes referred to the coup attempt as 'Pasquet's Invasion' or 'the Sheriffs Invasion' (as some of the Americans involved were former sheriff's deputies).

Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier was elected President of Haiti in September 1957. A doctor and former Minister of Health, he was initially seen by many Haitians as a populist reformer; however, he soon began to display behavior typical of an autocrat. Rival political parties were banned, and independent newspapers were shut down. Mixed-race mulattoes, who formed much of Haiti's upper class - and who were a source of much of the opposition to Duvalier - were frequently harassed, arrested, or forced into exile.

Among those exiled were three former officers in the Haitian Army: Captain Alix "Sonson" Pasquet, Lt. Phillipe "Fito" Dominique, and Lt. Henri "Riquet" Perpignan.

Pasquet was an aviator who had trained and served in combat with the Tuskegee Airmen during the Second World War. He was from a prominent mulatto family, and had also been a star player on Haiti's national football team. Dominique and Perpignan were also mulatto army officers. Dominique was Pasquet's brother-in-law.

From exile in Miami, Florida, Pasquet led a political movement to overthrow Duvalier and restore Haiti's traditional social order. At the same time, he, Dominique, and Perpignan began plotting a direct strike against the Duvalier government. Although the U.S. government was tepidly supportive of the anti-communist Duvalier, the exiles befriended five Americans who were willing to accompany them on a mission to Haiti. The Americans - Arthur Payne, Dany Jones, Levant Kersten, Robert F. Hickey, and Joe D. Walker - were intrigued by the promise of adventure and a possibly very lucrative outcome. A yacht captained by Walker, the Molly C, would take them to Haiti.

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