Some Haitians Call For Ousted Dictator Baby Doc Duvalier to Return

Perhaps it is a testament of how bad things are in Haiti, due to abject poverty and coupled with the tragedy of the recent earthquake, that some of the people are vocally calling for Baby Doc Duvalier to come back and be the Haitian leader. Those who are calling for the exiled dictator, who now resides in France, must have forgotten the brutality that was part and parcel of Baby Doc’s rule. The literal thousands of Haitians who were confirmed murdered, and the countless who are still missing and presumed dead, were carried out on the orders of “Baby Doc” through his ruthless enforcers known as the “Tonton Macoute.”

Baby Doc Duvalier came to power at 19 and he is now 59 years old and living in France, but no one knows if he has aspirations to return as the Haitian leader. We know years into Baby Doc’s exile, I am supposing when the money ran out, his beloved wife left him. I do not know what would compel some of the Haitian people to want Baby Doc to return and be their leader.

Maybe the situation in Haiti is akin to what used to take place in ancient Rome… where, when Romans needed order, the Senate would abdicate its authority temporarily to a dictator until the threat was over. Of course during those times, the temporary dictator would restore order… then give back the power to the Senate (this of course predates the Roman Caesars). Knowing Baby Doc predilection for governing by fiat, I hope the Haitians who are calling for Baby Doc return do  not expect him to give up power when his term is over, as dictated by their Democracy.

Those who were born in the Caribbean know the storied history of the Haitian people; it was Toussaint L’ouverture who first rebelled against slavery and gained freedom in 1801. And believe it or not, then, Haiti used to lend America money. This was the era when sugar was king. Moreover, it was because the leader of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, was getting his butt whipped by the Haitian freedom fighters, and needing money to combat the Haitian slave rebellion, was one of the reasons why America got the chance to purchase Louisiana from France for next to nothing.

Like how a man must live with his choices, so too are a people. If ever the Haitian people made the decision to bring back Baby Doc, such a brutal dictator to govern them, then they must live with the consequences. And in making such a masochistic choice, I hope the Haitians do not turn to America or the West to bail them out of their choice like before.

I once worked with a gentleman from Haiti who told me that his father, who was a doctor, and who spoke out about the treatment of the Haitian people, was literally chopped up with machetes by the Tonton Macoute. I cannot believe that it is so bad down in Haiti… that it would warrant some Haitians calling for a brutal dictator to return – but perhaps, I am wrong.