Sunday, January 16, 2011

No Good Can Come From This

Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, the former despot who ran Haiti with an iron fist and who sought exile in France 25 years ago, has made a very surprising return to the devastated country.

No good can come from this. Duvalier is widely reviled among Haitians and his fleecing of the country has left a lasting mark on the country although those close to Duvalier while he was in power would probably love to see him make a return to power.
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.

Haiti is in the middle of a major political crisis.

President Rene Preval, who is supposed to leave office in three weeks, is resisting international pressure to remove his handpicked candidate from a runoff election. A first round of balloting on Nov. 28 was widely considered rigged.

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