Prosper Avril their foreign accounts." Avril was forced into retirement by Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1983, but reinstated and promoted to Colonel in 1986, in the face of the popular revolt which would ultimately see Duvalier overthrown. Avril's 1986 joining of Henri Namphy's interim military junta saw protest demonstrations, and he was forced to resign; but he quickly returned, and assisted Namphy in the June 1988 Haitian coup d'état which overthrew Leslie Manigat, who had been elected in military-controlled elections and took office in February 1988. In September 1988, a week after the St Jean Bosco massacre, Avril overthrew his former ally Namphy,
Jean-Claude Duvalier contributed to increased popular mobilization and expanded political and social activism. A revolt began in the provinces in 1985. The city of Gonaïves was the first to have street demonstrations and raids on food-distribution warehouses. From October 1985 to January 1986, the protests spread to six other cities, including Cap-Haïtien. By the end of that month, Haitians in the south had revolted. The most significant rioting there broke out in Les Cayes. Duvalier responded with a 10 percent cut in staple food prices, the closing of independent radio stations, a cabinet reshuffle, and a crackdown by police and army units,