 After thwarting a military coup d'état in 1958, his regime rapidly became totalitarian and despotic.An undercover government death squad, the Tonton Macoute (), indiscriminately killed Duvalier's opponents; the Tonton Macoute was thought to be so pervasive that Haitians became highly fearful of expressing any form of dissent, even in private.Duvalier further sought to solidify his rule by incorporating elements of Haitian mythology into a personality cult.