# Baby Doc returns to Haiti **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898 "2011-01-17T03:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/21 "2011-01-17T09:49:54Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Can we be sure he really is? That is the question, _mon **Capitaine.** _ True. After all, this is Haiti, home of the zombie. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/22 "2011-01-17T15:01:11Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Thanks **Airman** and **Captain**. > > After reading all that, I can’t see how he could be voted back into office (legitimately). Come over here, I want you to have a talk with Silvio Berlusconi . . . ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/23 "2011-01-17T15:19:30Z")
> [@](#): > > The question is, are there enough of his loyal followers to restore him to his former status, either legitimately or through force? I don’t think so. I think the question is whether or not he still has relationship to the right people. And the answer would seem an obvious yes. Those who currently hold the real power are the ones profiting from the aid dollars. I’d wager they are largely his cronies from before ‘the troubles’, all too eager to return to protected status, I could imagine. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/24 "2011-01-17T15:27:42Z")
The biggest problem is that Baby Doc is loved by very few, but those who do love him have lots of guns. The Tonton Macoute elements still exist, and I am sure the drug traffickers and other lowlifes would love to cut a deal. I just can’t imagine that he was sent into exile without some penalty if he were to return. The government, such as it is, is almost forced to arrest him or they will court some real trouble. I haven’t kept up with Haitian politics as well as I knew them in the nineties, but Rene Preval, the current president is a onetime associate of Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was no friend of the Duvaliers. They don’t seem like natural compatriots. Baby Doc’s wife is also a piece of work, so I am interested to see how this develops. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/25 "2011-01-17T21:48:40Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I doubt that a debate is going to break out with someone explaining how wonderful this news might be, so I am sending it to IMHO. > [/Modding] [Would you **believe**. . . ?](http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/desperate-haitians-welcome-former-tyrant-20110117-19t7c.html) > [@](#): > > A carnival-like atmosphere prevailed on Sunday as ousted strongman Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to an earthquake-ravaged Haiti desperate for any political leadership. > > It is perhaps another measure of Haiti’s increasing misery - following a catastrophic earthquake a year ago, a raging cholera outbreak and an ongoing political crisis - that the leader who was driven out by popular protests in 1986 and accused of pillaging the treasury is now seen by many as a hero. > > Crowds of young men - few of them old enough to remember Baby Doc’s iron-fisted 15-year reign in the 1970s and 80s or his dreaded Tonton Macoutes militia - took to the streets to welcome him back from a 25-year exile. > > After arriving at Port-au-Prince airport and passing through immigration Duvalier, 59, and his partner Veronique Roy were whisked by convoy to the upscale Karibe hotel, where hundreds had gathered to welcome him. > > “Duvalier has returned, so we will have a real country now. We are glad that he is here to restore the country’s image,” said Ronald Brevil, 25, who had earlier rushed to the airport to see the leader he never knew. > > Others called for the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, another former leader who fled in 2004 and now lives in exile in South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/26 "2011-01-17T22:06:45Z")
Well, at least America knows where it can export its most worthless and hated politicians where they will be welcomed with joy. Hell, we might be able to charge Haiti for it. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/27 "2011-01-18T00:21:25Z")
For some reason I find this interesting. What do we know about Duvalier really? He’s been in France for 25 years. That’s a pretty long time. Maybe something bon rubbed off? He lost most of his money when he divorced his evil hag of an ex-wife, but recently came into an additional $4 million. According to the wiki article quoting Mac McClelland of Mother Jones: > [@](#): > > “The former dictator was greeted at the Port-au-Prince airport with cheering and celebratory chanting. . . . The word from Duvalier is that he’s come to help his country. According to everyone on the street and on the radio, the Americans and the French conspired to bring him here to upset current president René Préval, who’s been accused of fixing his country’s recent elections.” I dunno. Could he be a changed man? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/28 "2011-01-18T01:11:40Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Could he be a changed man? Perhaps. But I can think of few things I’d be happier to bet against. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/29 "2011-01-18T01:16:54Z")
I… have a bad feeling about this. Friends, who have friends who have connections in Haiti, told me months ago that the official aid wasn’t getting to the people on the streets, except during photo ops. (Where have I seen that before?) I had no idea that Baby Doc was still alive, and I thought the _Tonton Macoute_ was just a bad memory. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/30 "2011-01-18T01:21:06Z")
Haven’t they suffered enough already? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/31 "2011-01-18T01:37:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Come over here, I want you to have a talk with Silvio Berlusconi . . . Putin might be a better example - sure, he rigs elections like crazy, but he probably doesn’t _need_ to in order to win. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/32 "2011-01-18T03:19:32Z")
Haiti cannot catch a break. I cannot believe that Baby Doc is up to any good. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/33 "2011-01-18T03:29:37Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Haiti cannot catch a break. I cannot believe that Baby Doc is up to any good. What? Maybe he just wants to re-open his pediatric practice. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/34 "2011-01-18T03:32:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Come over here, I want you to have a talk with Silvio Berlusconi . . . > [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Putin might be a better example - sure, he rigs elections like crazy, but he probably doesn’t _need_ to in order to win. From what I read about Berlusconi, and what I I’ve heard about Putin in the news, both seem to do things that enrich themselves and consolidate power, but neither one seems to have massacred people or been _too_ repressive. I mean, there’s oppression of the media, but I guess that doesn’t bother some people. Hell, they seem perfectly OK with it in Venezuela. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/35 "2011-01-18T03:35:37Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Haven’t they suffered enough already? No. [They made a deal with the Devil to free themselves from the French,](http://www.theroot.com/views/pat-robertson-and-haiti-s-deal-devil) they deserve whatever they get. Come to think of it, though, of all the problems Haiti has had [since 1825,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#Reunification_under_Boyer) none has greatly involved the French. Hail Satan! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/36 "2011-01-18T18:18:25Z")
Apparently he has now been duly apprehended by Haitian police. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/37 "2011-01-18T18:34:26Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Apparently he has now been duly apprehended by Haitian police. And criminal complaints are forthcoming, although he hasn’t been officially arrested. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking in going back, but I hope his day in court comes soon. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/38 "2011-01-18T20:32:34Z")
He was probably thinking that his supporters would get him off the hook, and that a 25 year absence would soften people’s view of him. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/39 "2011-01-18T21:24:38Z")
Maybe he’s dying of cancer and really did miss his homeland. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898/40 "2011-01-18T21:55:31Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > He was probably thinking that his supporters would get him off the hook, and that a 25 year absence would soften people’s view of him. He was probably right. We’ll see. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-doc-returns-to-haiti/567898.md?page=3)