19706: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-'Baby Doc' Duvalier eyes return to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Tue, Mar. 02, 2004


'Baby Doc' Duvalier eyes return to Haiti

BY LUISA YANEZ

Miami Herald


Jean-Claude ''Baby Doc'' Duvalier, the deposed Haitian dictator living in
exile in Paris since 1986, said Monday he wants to return to his homeland as
soon as possible.

In an exclusive interview with WFOR-CBS4 chief investigative reporter
Michele Gillen, Duvalier said he requested a diplomatic passport several
weeks ago -- while President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was still in power.

Asked if he plans to return to Haiti to run for president, Duvalier said
through a translator: ``That is not on my agenda.''

Duvalier said he is in constant contact with people in Haiti but would not
elaborate. He also said he has no relationship with the rebels who helped
force Aristide out of office on Sunday.

Duvalier claims there is no legal obstacle blocking his return, a wish he
has been expressing since the late 1990s. The now-divorced Duvalier was
believed to have left Haiti with as much as $400 million. He has said he has
been living on the kindness of friends and supporters.

Duvalier said he wants to help Haiti in any way he can.

''This is my country. . . . I'm ready to put myself at the disposal of the
Haitian people,'' he told Gillen, who also interviewed him in December 2002.

Duvalier called the recent events ''a dark chapter in Haiti's history'' and
said he felt anguish and concern for his homeland.

''I'm shocked by the situation my country is in,'' he said.

He praised the ''prompt action of the international community,'' saying the
country should stabilize quickly. He said he welcomed the presence of U.S.
Marines, who have arrived to restore order.

He wants to be there, too: ``I think I'm getting close and that I will soon
have the opportunity to go back to my country.''

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