Jean-Claude Duvalier who is better known under the name of “Baby Doc” and who went into exile in 1986, surprised the world by returning to Haiti on Sunday afternoon.
The former dictator arrived to the earthquake stricken island which just marked the first anniversary of the disaster with his second wife Veronique Roy “to help” the Haitian people.
According to reports when he got off the plane, the former president “for life” kneel down, kissed the ground in front of hundreds of supporters and then said:
“Haiti, my country, the country of Dessalines,” in reference to the man who was able to make the island an independent country Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
Jean-Claude Duvalier who is now almost sixty years old landed at the airport in Port-au-Prince, after 25 years of exile in France and is expected to create a lot of political tension as the island is preparing to hold elections before the end of President René Préval’s term.
The second round of the presidential elections has been postponed indefinitely and there is no indication as to when Haitian authorities will resume the process.
Since 2007, Jean-Claude Duvalier who has been accused of embezzlement while in power started preparing his return by appearing on a radio show and asking all Haitians for forgiveness for the mistakes he committed during his time as president.
Doubting the sincerity of the message, President Rene Preval had then noted that if there is “forgiveness”, there was also “justice”.
His unexpected return raises a number of issues, in Port-au-Prince.
Why did Duvalier leave France? What does he plan to do in Haiti? Does he intend to settle there permanently?
