What’s Going On In Haiti?

Filed in International by on January 17, 2011

It’s been just over a year since the devastating earthquake in Haiti and things haven’t improved very much. Many people are still living in refugee camps and the international aid dollars have not been distributed yet. A wave of cholera has hit the island and there’s still a disputed presidential election, but this news is a real headscratcher:

Exiled former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier returned unexpectedly to his Caribbean homeland on Sunday for the first time since he was deposed in a coup in 1986.

Duvalier, known as “Baby Doc,” who had ruled Haiti following the 1971 death of his father, the authoritarian Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, had been living in France in exile.

I wonder what Duvalier has to gain from this. Did the international community know this was going to happen?

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Comments (5)

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  1. Dana Garrett says:

    Probably not a good sign. I can’t help but wonder if his return and possible rise to power has the blessings of the State Department. The USA has a long history of supporting despots in the Americas.

  2. MJ says:

    Maybe he went to see if some of his blood money was still sitting in a bank vault. Hopefully, the current government will have some beitzim and arrest him.

  3. Capt.Willard says:

    Oh no, not “Baby Doc”.
    If the voodoo drums are alive tonight, you’ll know he’s gone back to the hougans and mambos to summon the Iwa, Ogoun.
    A return to politics can’t be far behind.

    I almost lost an eye the last time I dealt with this despot.
    [I forgot to remove that little umbrella in my Mai Tai.]

  4. jason330 says:

    Jean-Claude Duvalier arrested in Haiti on the charge of, “Stupidly returning to Haiti.”

  5. Along the lines of jason’s point, I liked the part where Duvalier was arrested. That was hilarious.

    Some of these dictators manage to believe their own hype for years and clearly the crowds at the airport had him fooled right up until they brought him in to talk to the prosecutors.