30393: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Baby Doc (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 23 (AP) -- Haitians danced in the streets to
celebrate the overthrow of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, heckling the
tubby, boyish tyrant as he was driven to the airport in a black limousine
and flown into exile in 1986.
   Most Haitians hoped the rapacious strongman known as "Baby Doc" had left
for good, closing a dark chapter of terror and repression that began under
his late father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.
   But now, a handful of loyalists are campaigning to bring Duvalier home
from exile in France, launching a foundation to improve the dictatorship's
image and reviving Duvalier's political party in the hopes that one day he
can return to power democratically.
   His backers concede life in Haiti could be brutal for Duvalier's
opponents but are nostalgic for the relatively stable period the country
experienced, compared to the upheavals of recent years.
   "Since Jean-Claude left, there's no work, no food, no nothing. Only
burning tires, people getting killed and kidnappings," Jesus Duvernois, 71,
said at a gathering last week to mark Papa Doc's 100th birthday. "Without
Duvalier, there is no country."
   Dozens attended the gathering in a house in a leafy suburb of the
Haitian capital, including ex-military officers, a leader of the Duvalier
regime's ruthless militia and Baby's Doc's French fiancee, Veronique Roy.
They sipped fruit punch, tapped their canes to old Haitian compa tunes and
pined for the past while looking at black and white photos from the
Duvalier era.
   "I'm going to die a Duvalierist, but I hope Jean-Claude comes back
before that happens," said Yvette Jean Phillipe, 63, who prays for Baby
Doc's return.
   But hatred for the former regime runs so deep in Haiti that it is highly
unlikely the 55-year-old would ever be voted into power. Victims of the
Duvalier regime are offended even by the suggestion.
   "The only reason he should come back is to go to jail for all the money
he stole and the people he killed," said Bobby Duval, a former soccer star
who was starved and tortured while locked up for 17 months under the
Duvalier regime for speaking out against human rights abuses.
   The younger Duvalier was named "president for life" at age 19 following
his father's death in 1971. An estimated 60,000 people were killed during
the 29-year father-and-son dictatorship, while many others were maimed by
the dictatorship or forced into exile. If Duvalier returns, many Haitians
believe he would be arrested and charged with murder and misappropriation
of $120 million in public funds -- allegations he has denied.
   His supporters founded the Francois Duvalier Foundation late last year
to promote positive aspects of the dictatorship, including the creation of
most of Haiti's state institutions and increased access to education for
the country's black majority. Loyalists also offer pro-Duvalier lectures
for youths and want to start a Duvalier-themed library and Web site.
   Duvalier's National Unity Party was recently reconstituted and plans to
enter candidates in December's Senate race. That would mark the party's
first participation in a national election since Duvalier was toppled 21
years ago.
   The party hopes he can one day democratically reclaim power. But while
Duvalier announced in 2004 his intention to return to Haiti, he has denied
plans to run for president.
   Haiti has embraced democracy since the Duvalier regime, but the
transition has been rough. The country has suffered through repeated coups,
a brutal right-wing military regime and a bloody 2004 uprising that toppled
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
   Today, U.N. peacekeepers provide the only real security. Haiti has only
a few thousand police for a country of 8 million. Unemployment and despair
are rife, leading thousands of Haitians to flee to the United States in
rickety boats each year.
   The democratically elected government of President Rene Preval, a
one-time anti-Duvalier crusader who was elected last year, has struggled to
stamp out street violence.
   Duval, the ex-soccer star who now runs the L'Atletique d'Haiti sports
academy for poor youths, said Duvalier's return -- however improbable --
would only deepen Haiti's turmoil.
   "If you really want to polarize this society, bringing back Baby Doc
would do it," he said.