Jean ‘Astounded’ By Former Dictator’s Return To Her Native Haiti

One-time dictator Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier’s return to Haiti has left Canada’s Haitian-born former governor general “astounded.”

“Will a quarter-century of comfortable exile in impunity be enough to make Haitians forget the horrors, the suffering, the injustice as well as the human and economic cost of decades of Duvalierist dictatorship?” Michaelle Jean said in a statement.

“How can he come back to Haiti without warning, like a citizen, without reproach?”

Jean’s family fled Haiti for Canada in 1968 during the reign of Duvalier’s infamous father, Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier. The younger Duvalier ruled the impoverished country from his father’s death in 1971 until he was ousted in a popular uprising in 1986.

He has spent the time since in exile in France.

The father-son dictators presided over one of the darkest chapters in Haiti’s lamentable history.

Jean, who stepped down as governor general last fall, now is UNESCO’s special envoy for Haiti.

She’s in Paris this week for a roundtable with Haitians, diplomats and UNESCO representatives marking the first anniversary of the country’s devastating earthquake.

Duvalier’s return came as a surprise to a country struggling with the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, a cholera epidemic and a political crisis following an indecisive election.

He was greeted by several hundred cheering supporters as he landed.

He said he came to help in reconstruction. An aide said he would stay for only three days.

In 2007, President Rene Preval said Duvalier could return to Haiti but would then face justice for the deaths of thousands of people and the theft of millions of dollars.

Preval, however, had no immediate comment on Duvalier’s arrival.

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive shrugged it off.

“He is a Haitian and, as such, is free to return home,” Bellerive said.

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