Former Haiti dictator returns home
HAITI: Exiled former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc”
Duvalier returned unexpectedly to his Caribbean homeland on Sunday for
the first time since he was forced out by a popular uprising and US
pressure in 1986.
Wearing a blue suit and tie, Duvalier, now 59, arrived at
Port-au-Prince airport on an Air France flight from Paris, witnesses
said.
Dozens of enthusiastic supporters greeted him, although the motive
for his surprise return to the country was not immediately known.
Duvalier took the reins of power in Haiti in 1971, becoming president
on the death of his father, the autocratic Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier,
who had ruled with a reign of terror. Jean-Claude, “Baby Doc,” was then
the world’s youngest head of state at age 19.
Although he tried to improve Haiti’s image during his rule, he faced
accusations of corruption, political repression and human rights abuses
when he fled the country in 1986 during massive street protests and
diplomatic pressure from Washington.
His unexpected return comes at a time when Haiti, still the poorest
state in the Western Hemisphere, is facing political uncertainty
following Nov. 28 presidential and legislative elections whose
preliminary results have triggered fraud allegations and street
protests.
The chaotic elections went ahead during a cholera epidemic in the
country, which is still recovering from a devastating earthquake a year
ago that killed more than 300,000 people.
Port-Au-Prince, Monday, Reuters |