Baby Doc shows up in Haiti

[rabs]

surprise arrival today (Sunday) on flight from Paris. He has been living in exile in Europe the past 25 years.

It would seem that this will roil the presidential election runoff even more.

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(BBC espanol)

Haití: regreso inesperado del ex presidente Duvalier tras 25 años
El ex presidente de Haití Jean Claude Duvalier, también conocido como Baby Doc, regresó tras 25 años y de forma inesperada al país, que lo derrocó del poder mediante una revuelta popular en 1986.

Duvalier aterrizó en territorio haitiano este domingo en un vuelo procedente de Francia, donde ha vivido todo este tiempo en el exilio.

El ex presidente, acusado de corrupción en los tribunales de Haití, estuvo al mando del país durante 15 años (1971 – 1986).

Haití se encuentra sumido en una crisis política tras las acusaciones de fraude en la primera vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales, mientras sigue tratando de recuperarse del devastador terremoto sucedido hace un año.


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Found English version (NY Dail News -- but not bad version.)

Haiti's election mess turned explosive Sunday when ex-dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier unexpectedly arrived in Port-au-Prince after 25 years in exile.

Photos posted on Twitter showed Duvalier, 59, walking off an Air France plane with his companion, Veronique Roy, to be greeted by supporters. It was his first visit to Haiti since he was deposed by a popular uprising in 1986.

Agence France-Presse reported he was met by a delegation of former officials who had served as his cabinet ministers 25 years ago.

Duvalier's intentions for returning were unclear. Some feared he would try to seize power amid the paralysis following November's disputed elections. He told the press at the airport that he came back "to help."

Port-au-Prince erupted in a frenzy of rumors and ringing phones

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/01/16/2011-01-16_jeanclaude_baby_doc_duvalier_exhaitian_dictator_makes_surprise_return_to_country.html

[rabs]

1. Should know tomorrow why he returned

(X-posting from the LBN thread.)

He was escorted from the airport in a heavily guarded convoy. He and his wife are staying at the luxury Caribbean Hotel, in the ritzy part of Port-au-Prince where foreign embassies are located and where the very wealthy Haitians live.

Access to the hotel is restricted with Haitian national police standing guard outside. Blue Helmets (U.N. occupying troops) are posted inside the building. Security agents from a private company named METRO are also guarding Baby Doc at the hotel.

Michelle Bennett, Baby Doc's wife, emerged briefly this evening to announce a news conference at 9 a.m. Monday in which he will explain why he returned unexpectedly.

The secretary general of the OAS, Miguel Insulza, is scheduled to arrive in the capital on Monday in relation to the recent presidential elections that no one is recognizing because of massive electoral fraud.

The city is rife with rumors. At first it was thought that Aristide had arrived so a lot of people tried to get to the airport, but they were turned back.

Another rumor is that Hillary may make a stop in Haiti (think she is in the Middle East this weekend).


(Gleaned info above from Latam media sources)

[Judi Lynn]

8. Truly hoping Hillary Clinton doesn't intend to meet with this beast.

If she did, we'd know for sure things are going to get a whole lot worse.

A Democratic President can't afford to dirty his name having anything to do with this vicious idiot.

Starting a rumor so the crowds would show up at the airport sounds typically slimy, and could easily be perpetrated in order to make it appear hordes of people raced there to welcome the man arriving on the plane, good old Baskethead Duvalier.

I hope he has enjoyed whooping it up with the stolen money of Haitian people, broken down into such desperate poverty they have had to resort to using dirt, mixed with fats to construct cookies so they could simply have the feeling of fullness to ease the pain of hunger in their stomachs.

What a pity.

Thank you for this information. Recommended.

[EFerrari]

2. Haitian Activist Patrick Elie: "Haiti is Controlled by Foreign Governments and Foreign Interests"

On the first anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, we go to Port-au-Prince to speak with Patrick Elie, a longtime Haitian democracy activist and Haiti’s former Secretary of State for Public Security. "I don’t think, truly, that the Haitian people have to be pitied or mourned. They have to get true solidarity in their endeavor to rebuild," Elie says. "We must resist the impulse to rebuild Port-au-Prince the way it was: a city of exclusion, of hyper-concentration and of shanty towns, which contributed very, very much to the high toll that we’ve paid after the earthquake."

Wesleyan Professor Alex Dupuy: Haiti Transformed into the "Republic of the NGOs"

One year after the massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti, reconstruction efforts have barely begun. We speak with Alex Dupuy, a professor of sociology at Wesleyan University. "There is a dramatic power imbalance between the international community—under U.S. leadership—and Haiti. The former monopolizes economic and political power and calls all the shots," Dupuy writes. "This unequal relationship is reflected in the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission." The IHRC is co-chaired by Bill Clinton.

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/12/alex_dupuy_foreign_aid_keeps_haiti

Two more segments on Haiti on that date:

http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2011/1/12

[Downwinder]

3. Chronology of ex-dictator 'Baby Doc' Duvalier

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9454482

[CJvR]

4. I guess...

...this is why you should always shoot old dictators.

[ChangoLoa]

5. How can he go there and not be arrested... nt

[Downwinder]

7. He has the International Force to protect him.

[rabs]

9. Latest says he could be tried in Haiti

if someone files charges against him.

One of his spokesmen said today he has a return ticket to France on Thursday.

His news conference that was to be held today is now said to be scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday). The excuse was that there was not a conference room large enough at the luxury Hotel Karib, which is hooey because even Bill Clinton held a news conference there.

But the reason about why he returned is still a mystery.

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El primer ministro de Haití, Jean-Max Bellerive, afirmó este lunes que el dictador Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, quien arribó a la nación caribeña con motivos desconocidos, puede ser llevado ante la Justicia si se presentan cargos en su contra.

"El exilio está prohibido por la Constitución haitiana. Todos los ciudadanos pueden volver a su país, pero esto también significa que todos los ciudadanos están sujetos a la ley haitiana", dijo este lunes Bellerive a un grupo de periodistas.

"Si hay procedimientos judiciales en los que (Duvalier) está implicado, la Justicia hará lo que tenga que hacer. Es todo lo que tengo que decir por el momento", señaló el primer ministro.

Las declaraciones de Bellerive se produjeron en medio de una serie de especulaciones sobre los motivos que han llevado a Duvalier a regresar a Haití, tras 25 años en el exilio, en medio de la difícil situación política, social y económica que afronta este país tras el terremoto de 2010 y las controvertidas elecciones presidenciales del pasado noviembre.

El ex mandatario de facto, que todavía no ha celebrado una rueda de prensa para explicar su repentina llegada, aseguró que había regresado a Haití para “ayudar".

[ChangoLoa]

10. Policía haitiana detiene a Jean-Claude Duvalier

Puerto Príncipe.- La Policía haitiana sacó el martes de su hotel a Jean-Claude Duvalier, luego que el ex dictador se reuniera en su cuarto de hotel con altos funcionarios judiciales, incluidos el procurador principal del país y un juez, mientras grupos defensores de los derechos humanos exigían que fuese arrestado.

Rodeado de agentes, Baby Doc', de 59 años bajó las escaleras hasta el fondo del hotel, señaló AP. No dijo nada al salir por la puerta trasera. Preguntada por los periodistas si lo habían arrestado, su compañera Veronique Roy rió pero no dijo nada. Mona Bernadeu, candidata al senado por el partido duvalierista, dijo que lo llevaban a un tribunal, pero que no sabía el motivo.

Decenas de agentes de la policía nacional, algunos con equipo antimotines, estaban apostados alrededor del hotel o en su interior. Un vehículo policial para el transporte de presos estaba estacionado frente a la entrada principal del hotel y se prohibía el paso de todos los vehículos no policiales.

Henry Robert Sterlin, un ex embajador bajo Duvalier y que recientemente dijo que hablaba cono vocero del ex dictador, dijo a la prensa en el lugar que estaba atónito. "Veamos si lo llevan a la cárcel'', dijo.


http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/01/18/int_ava_policia-haitiana-det_18A5002575.shtml

[rabs]

12. Duvalier fue inculpado de corrupción por justicia haitiana pero fue dejado en libertad

He has been accused of diversion of state funds, but he was allowed to go back to the luxury hotel where he is staying. He was interrogated for four hours.

If the whole thing is not a show, he could still face trial.

One of his spokesmen said Baby Doc had returned to Haiti to ask for pardon for crimes committed during his regime. The spokesman said that if anything happened to Baby Doc, Preval and his government would be responsible.

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El dictador haitiano Jean Claude Duvalier fue inculpado de desvío de capitales tras ser interrogado durante horas en las oficinas donde funciona el ministerio de Interior en Puerto Príncipe. "Baby Doc" fue liberado, pero queda a disposición de la justicia ante otras denuncias que se puedan presentar en su contra, informó uno de sus abogados.

El jurista especificó que "él (Duvalier) está libre pero queda a disposición de la justicia".

El fiscal Aristidas Auguste y el juez de instrucción, Carves Jean, ambos encargados del caso del dictador responsable de al menos 150 mil muertes, explicaron a algunos medios que la medida legal fue adoptada luego del cuestionario que durante más de cuatro horas le fue aplicado y en el que Duvalier respondió ante acusaciones de robo, corrupción y apropiación indebida de fondos.

"Su destino está ahora en las manos del juez de investigación. Presentamos cargos en su contra", aseveró Auguste, quien también se desempeña como jefe de la fiscalía de Puerto Príncipe.

Por su parte, el abogado defensor; Reinold Georges, precisó que las fuentes judiciales querían interrogarle sobre el presunto robo de fondos del Tesoro durante los 15 años de su mandato.

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Informaciones extraoficiales de personas que están cerca del ex presidente de facto, indican que Duvalier no se siente bien de salud, por lo que la cita con los periodistas podría demorarse aún más.

“Lo vimos salir bastante tembloroso de la sede del ministerio del Interior y hay información no confirmada de que la rueda de prensa podría suspenderse por tercera vez debido a que Duvalier estuvo a punto de desmayarse (…) Así que es posible que el encuentro con la prensa no se vaya a dar por su delicado estado de salud”, explicó el periodista de teleSUR.

Ante los hechos, Rodríguez indicó que "seguimos a la espera de saber cuál es el futuro del dictador y agregó que "el contenido de su declaración aún no se conoce".

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Henry Sterling aseveró que cuando las intenciones del dictador llegaron a oídos del poder Ejecutivo, el presidente René Preval, que según él, quiere “desestabilizar” al país, “ha intentado impedir realizar la pequeñísima la rueda de prensa y ha invadido con policías y mandado a callar la boca”.

“Cualquier cosa que le pudiera ocurrir a Duvalier será responsabilidad de Preval y de su gobierno, resaltó.


http://www.telesurtv.net/secciones/noticias/87479-NN/duvalier-fue-inculpado-de-corrupcion-por-justicia-haitiana-pero-fue-dejado-en-libertad/

[EFerrari]

11. So, what was this drama for?

:shrug:

[rabs]

13. Good question

Is he a loose cannon who took Preval and Hillary by surprise? Looks like the U.S. gov does not know what to make of this so far.

Is he mentally unbalanced?

Telesur report says he appears to be ill and that he was trembling when he left the Interior Ministry after being quizzed for four hours.

What fun. :-)

[EFerrari]

14. Kim Ives believes he was brought in to pressure Preval into accepting

the US's choice in the fake election.

AMY GOODMAN: Why did he return, and how did he get back to Haiti?

KIM IVES: Well, we think that it had something to do with the present situation of the electoral standoff. The Organization of American States is ordering Préval to change the results of the election held on November 28th, which was a completely ridiculous election marred by terrible irregularities. Préval’s Provisional Electoral Council said that his official party candidate, Jude Célestin, came in second after Mirlande Manigat, a right-wing neo-Duvalierist, and that they would go—

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/19/did_baby_doc_duvalier_return_to

[Judi Lynn]

16. Just found an article by Kim Ives at magbana's website. The ending of the article:

Haiti Liberte – Kim Ives: A Class Analysis of Baby Doc: Mothballed Playboy Dictator Recalled to Service Posted on January 20, 2011 by magbana

Also among the former dictator’s current escorts is Jodel Chamblain, the former No. 2 of the death-squad FRAPH during the first coup against Aristide and a leader of the “rebels” who terrorized Northern and Central Haiti during the second coup against Aristide.

So we have come full circle. For the first time in 20 years, the bourgeois-grandon alliance, along with the U. S. and France, have a chance to install one of their preferred puppets through an election, however patently bogus, rather than a coup. This is likely why Duvalier is now in Haiti.

http://hcvanalysis.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/haiti-liberte-kim-ives-a-class-analysis-of-baby-doc-mothballed-playboy-dictator-recalled-to-service/

[EFerrari]

6. Omg, JohngCole for the win!

My first thought on Duvalier's return to Haiti was "I wonder how Lanny Davis is involved?"
18 minutes ago

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

15. State Department still warning Aristide off, PJ Fatuous tweets:

PJCrowley Philip J. Crowley
Friends of #Lebanon joined Ambassador Antoine Chedid tonight in Washington to commemorate a new Congressional caucus to support Lebanon.
2 hours ago