19th January, 2011
The re-appearance on Sunday of Jean-Claude – or “Baby Doc†– Duvalier in Haiti is likely to be greeted by most of the population with dismay.
Born in 1951, Baby Doc ruled the country as a dictator from the death of his father Francois “Papa Doc†Duvalier from 1971 to 1986, when he was deposed by the armed forces following widespread popular unrest.
Since his departure for exile in France and the United States, Haiti has struggled to create stable democratic governments after three decades of misrule by the Duvalier dynasty.
Papa Doc first came to power in 1957, when he is said to have won free and fair elections.
A popular figure at first, he became increasingly authoritarian and eccentric, keeping control of the country thanks to the sinister “Tontons Macoutes†(or “Bogeymenâ€) who acted with impunity to silence any opposition.
In 1964 Papa Doc had himself declared president for life.
His rule became increasingly repressive, and it was in the 1960s that many educated Haitians left the country for the United States, Canada and France, the start of an exodus that means now more than a million Haitians out of a total of 11 million live abroad.
By the early 1970s, Papa Doc’s health was failing. Before his death in 1971, he had the National Assembly declare that his son Jean Claude should take over, also as president for life.
Handed the presidency at 19, although Jean Claude made some attempts to modernise and reform the Haitian state, his rule was as arbitrary and authoritarian as his father’s, and he was known to be greatly influenced by his mother, Simone Ovide Duvalier.
In the end, he proved so inept at resolving Haiti’s deep-seated problems of extreme poverty, lack of investment and employment opportunities that there were constant outbreaks of popular unrest.
In February 1986 the armed forces toppled him in a bloodless coup supported by the vast majority of Haitians.
Baby Doc went off to live in exile in the south of France, guaranteed a luxurious lifestyle due to multi-million US dollar deposits in Swiss banks.
Following his departure, various groups in the army and Haiti’s fledgling political parties fought for power in Haiti, often relying on the same Tontons Macoutes that the Duvaliers had employed for years.
It was not until Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president in 1990 that the years of Duvalierism appeared to be over and done with, although this has not meant the introduction of stable democratic rule and the creation of robust state institutions in Haiti.
It is the political turmoil that has followed the earthquake disaster in January 2010 and the subsequent cholera epidemic that have given Baby Doc Duvalier what he sees as a chance to influence Haiti’s destiny once again.
When Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted for a second time in 2004, Baby Doc announced he would return to the country and stand in the next presidential elections for a hastily-formed National Unity Party, although in the end he withdrew his candidacy.
In 2010, the first round of elections for a new president to replace Rene Preval in November ended in controversy, with Mr Preval insisting that the candidate for his party, Jude Celestin, who came third, should be allowed to contest a run-off election against Mirlande Manigat, who won most votes in the first round.
The US Department of State and the regional Organization of American States (OAS) has said the run-off should not include Mr Celestin, but should be between Mrs Manigat and the singer Michel Martelly.
A date for the second round has yet to be announced, and political tensions and protests in Haiti have increased due to the uncertainty.
Baby Doc Duvalier seems to be trying to take advantage of the current confusion and political instability to rally support.
He is hoping to appeal to those Haitians who think that what their country needs is a strong, authoritarian government that will restore order and provide the kind of leadership in the face of disaster that has been so noticeably lacking over the past 12 months.
His presence in Haiti is likely to lead to further instability, weakening still further the prospects for constitutional rule in this troubled nation – though Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said there was no reason this would be the case.
The Haitian authorities have said Baby Doc is free to come and go as he pleases.
Perhaps his presence will galvanise the squabbling politicians to unite to defend the hopes for democratic rule in Haiti against this ghost from its dark past.
— By Nick Caistor
