Stephane and I were enjoying a quiet evening at home last night (on what was supposed to be the day of the run-off election that recedes further and further from actuality with each passing day....) when his accountant rang. Hearing only Stephane's side of the conversation, I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but it didn't sound like anything good, as he kept repeating, 'I hope you're joking. That's not funny.'
When he hung up the phone and told me what his accountant had been saying, I, too said, 'You're joking.' The big news? None other than the impromptu return of Jean-Claude Duvalier, who was sitting at the airport when we got the call.
Really? Dictator Lite returns to Haiti after a quarter of a century's absence, four days after the one year anniversary, in the midst of contentious elections and a cholera outbreak? Why? And *how*? The man hasn't had a legal passport since being rushed out of the country in 1986. There are rumors of a diplomatic passport, but no one knows if that is true and if it is, from which country said magic passport originated.
It is certain that the French knew of his departure for Haiti (journalists here received phone calls from Guadeloupe, where his flight from Paris had a layover, alerting them to his imminent arrival), but the extent of their involvement in his return and whether or not anyone else (i.e., the Haitian government and MINUSTAH) had knowledge of this visit is unknown.
Initial reactions were mixed: lots of people at the airport cheering his return, lots of other people (those who remember the 'good old days') reflecting back on that era without the least bit of nostalgia. There were reports of big groups in the streets in various parts of town, but I think most of these were actually just rah-rah bands playing Carnival music as they begin their campaign to bring back the festivities, a whole other debate.
At the moment, the predominant sentiments seem to be shock and wariness, as people question what Baby Doc wants with their country at this moment. The television last night kept running footage of his return intermingled with archival footage from his hasty departure, which will hopefully remind people of why he left in the first place.
But the thing is, in a country where 46% of the population is under 18, most Haitians *don't* remember why Duvalier left, why people fought to get him the hell out of here. And even those who were alive then often succumb to the common error of remembering the good (rule of law, stability) and forgetting the bad (corruption beyond even contemporary levels, a culture of fear). Haiti's fundamental fault is that its memory is too short; it can't learn lessons when it can't remember what happened in the first place.
So that's why you get people spray-painting 'Bon retour JC Duvalier' all over the place and dreaming of bringing back the man who, although less persecutorial than his father, did very little beyond exploiting the country during his 15-year rule and then ran off with millions of dollars that rightfully belongs to the country to live the good life in France.
Thus far, this wholly bizarre 'rentree' has not significantly disrupted anything here aside from the television viewing schedule, but in Haiti, one never knows. And if Aristide decides to follow suit, well....That would be a whole other keg of powder.
When he hung up the phone and told me what his accountant had been saying, I, too said, 'You're joking.' The big news? None other than the impromptu return of Jean-Claude Duvalier, who was sitting at the airport when we got the call.
Really? Dictator Lite returns to Haiti after a quarter of a century's absence, four days after the one year anniversary, in the midst of contentious elections and a cholera outbreak? Why? And *how*? The man hasn't had a legal passport since being rushed out of the country in 1986. There are rumors of a diplomatic passport, but no one knows if that is true and if it is, from which country said magic passport originated.
It is certain that the French knew of his departure for Haiti (journalists here received phone calls from Guadeloupe, where his flight from Paris had a layover, alerting them to his imminent arrival), but the extent of their involvement in his return and whether or not anyone else (i.e., the Haitian government and MINUSTAH) had knowledge of this visit is unknown.
Initial reactions were mixed: lots of people at the airport cheering his return, lots of other people (those who remember the 'good old days') reflecting back on that era without the least bit of nostalgia. There were reports of big groups in the streets in various parts of town, but I think most of these were actually just rah-rah bands playing Carnival music as they begin their campaign to bring back the festivities, a whole other debate.
At the moment, the predominant sentiments seem to be shock and wariness, as people question what Baby Doc wants with their country at this moment. The television last night kept running footage of his return intermingled with archival footage from his hasty departure, which will hopefully remind people of why he left in the first place.
But the thing is, in a country where 46% of the population is under 18, most Haitians *don't* remember why Duvalier left, why people fought to get him the hell out of here. And even those who were alive then often succumb to the common error of remembering the good (rule of law, stability) and forgetting the bad (corruption beyond even contemporary levels, a culture of fear). Haiti's fundamental fault is that its memory is too short; it can't learn lessons when it can't remember what happened in the first place.
So that's why you get people spray-painting 'Bon retour JC Duvalier' all over the place and dreaming of bringing back the man who, although less persecutorial than his father, did very little beyond exploiting the country during his 15-year rule and then ran off with millions of dollars that rightfully belongs to the country to live the good life in France.
Thus far, this wholly bizarre 'rentree' has not significantly disrupted anything here aside from the television viewing schedule, but in Haiti, one never knows. And if Aristide decides to follow suit, well....That would be a whole other keg of powder.
