Tag Archives: Jean Claude Duvalier

Sep 19 2011

TO ALL YOU FAKE HAITIAN NATIONALISTS

Haitian flag

You say Dr. Gary Conille is the choice of the international community. As of yet, as always, you are engaging in what most of us Haitians do best, and that is “voye monte.” Until you show me proof that he is the choice of the international community, you can keep your nonsense to yourself.

Let’s assume that your allegation is factual in that Dr. Conille is, indeed, the choice of the international community. So what!!!! Has anything ever happened in Haiti without the infringement of the international community in our internal affairs?

When Duvalier left the country in 1986, that did not happen because he wanted to; it was because the international community asked him to. That was not interference of the international community in our affairs to you? I did not hear you so-called nationalists asking them to stay out of it and let you deal with him. Instead, you were praising them for having “liberated” the country.

Namphy, Cedras, Avril, etc… did not leave the country because they wanted to; they left because the international community stepped in to ask them to leave. And in each of these cases, we praised the international community for having taken the side of the people. Where were you so-called nationalists? How come you did not put on your nationalist hat to ask the international community to stay away?

When the US Marines landed in Port-au-Prince to pick up President Aristide, the country’s then democratically elected president, aside from his sympathizers, I did not hear you so-called nationalists protesting against the intrusion of the US in our affairs. Where were you then? You were, instead, rejoicing because you had enough of Aristide and wanted him to leave.

All the millions we just spent to organize the last presidential and legislative elections, which Preval and his crook Gaillot Dorsainvil tried to manipulate, do you know that the international community gave them to you? That’s not their interference in the country’s affairs to you? How come you did not tell them to stay away and keep their money because you don’t want them in your business?

When Preval and his crook and vassal Gaillot Dorsainvil tried so hard to steal the people’s vote, what had happened? The international community felt obliged to step in to force them to respect the people’s will. That’s not interference of the international community in the country’s internal affairs to you? How come all you so-called nationalists did not ask them to stay away and let you solve the problem on your own?

Let me answer the question for you. For each of these situations, you did not ask the international community to step aside because the intrusion appealed to your politics. You only put your nationalist hat when it is politically convenient and advantageous to you. You are nothing but a bunch of fake nationalists having nothing better to do but to mislead the people. You all need to just shut up and let the country breathe. You are acting like a bunch of animals fighting each other in the jungle, what do you expect the behavior of the international community to be? They will stop getting in your business when you can show that you are grown and mature enough to act like civilized people do, in the way you handle your affairs.

Apr 19 2011

RECONCILIATION: MICKY & TITID SHOULD MEET

President-elect Martelly

I believe there have been sentiments of discord and strife between President-elect Martelly and former President Aristide. This is now the time for a cease fire to be called between the two men to reconcile the nation with itself. I am glad President-elect Martelly is taking the lead on the reconciliation mantra.

In an interview to La Press, published yesterday, Monday, April 18, 2011, President-elect Martelly, talking on the fate of the two former presidents -Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide –said in French:

I would simply said that we will be able to eventually look at amnesty only if those who had been hurt in the past understand the necessity for the nation to reconcile with itself. Before we could get to that, we need to try to place ourselves in the victims’ shoes to understand them and respect their sentiments.

So we are not rushing into taking any decisions, though public opinion wants that I stand on the side of amnesty and clemency, a way to focus on the future, not the past. But we must always keep the past in our minds so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

I think President-elect Martelly, in his effort to bring the country together, needs to be the bigger person to hand to the former president an olive branch; he needs to make peace with him.

Former President Aristide

Former President Aristide is a resourceful person whom President-elect Martelly could use in many capacities to help rebuild the country. We find strength only in unity, not in division and bickering.

The former priest’s rhetoric may have been too inflammatory during his tenure as president, but he could be a great asset to be put to good use if he is really honest about his ambition to serve the people and help move the country forward.

If his rhetoric and policies were being viewed as too far to the left, it was because he was in a position for whatever he said and did to matter much. He is not in that position anymore, President-elect Martelly is. In other words, Martelly is the coach to call the play now, not Aristide.

President-elect Martelly must not let these vultures, those who have never acted in the best interest of Haiti, dictate him who amongst us he should befriend and who he should ostracize. He is now the president of every single Haitian; therefore, he must act in such manner.

Now that he is elected president, in his post-election consultations, he should ask to meet with all the former presidents currently living in Haiti, including former President Aristide. That should take place prior to his inauguration ceremony, which all of them will be invited to attend.

It would be preposterous to think that a man in the caliber of Aristide could be pushed to the side. He can still be useful to Haiti so long as he is willing to play by the rules.

While I am for reconciliation between the two men, only for the sake of bringing all the sons and daughters of Haiti together to do what needs to get done, I am also urging President-elect Martelly to not be naive and let Aristide loose; he needs to be kept on check. I am sure Mr. Martelly will keep him in a tight and short leash. So I am not going to even worry about him acting up.

Jan 19 2011

J-C DUVALIER: A NEW CLOWN ADDED TO THE CIRCUS

On the quiet afternoon of Sunday, January 16, 2010, as I was at my desk in front of my desktop computer putting the

J. - C. Duvalier, former dictator of Haiti

 final touch to the transcript of my radio talk show to be aired at 10 PM that night, as I was multitasking navigating between that and answering to comments from people reacting to my Facebook statuses, I kept reading on Facebook the feeds about the unconfirmed news of Jean Claude Duvalier’s return to Haiti after 25 years living in exile in France. I did not want to be bought into what I instantly called the biggest hoax and joke for this new decade because, so cynical and nonsensical it sounded to me, I just could not believe my eyes.

When the news I considered to be the biggest hoax and joke of the new decade was finally confirmed by the Associated Press and Agence France Press, I automatically found myself in a state of shock, speechlessness, disbelief and confusion. I literally got up and walked around as a way to check myself to make sure that I was conscious and that I was not dreaming. Well, it was real; Jean Claude Duvalier, the former dictator of Haiti who ruled the country ferociously for 15 years, has returned to the island.

Ever since the news of Duvalier’s return broke out, we all have been asking all types of questions just to try to get this new development of reality to make sense to us, for the Preval administration could not even come forth to address the nation and shed some light on the nature and significance of his return to the country. This is another piece of evidence added to many of Preval’s politics of nonchalance and absenteeism. The entire nation is left desperate for information and isolated in a vast ocean of confusion to swim its way out to the safety field of accurate and timely information.       

In politics, nothing happens in isolation, meaning there is a reason for and a motive behind everything. Though our long list of questions, unfortunately, has been disregarded and dismissed by the Haitian authorities, one thing we all can agree upon is that the determination of the return of the former dictator at this juncture in the country’s political life and after 25 years of exile has got to have the seal of approval of some powerful invisible hands outside the know of the leadership inside the country.

We have been starkly divided on what to do with Duvalier physically inside the country. Some argue that he must be kicked out, many want him released and not to face prosecution, a large group wants him to take over the leadership of the country, and others just want him trialed. I am going to address each and every single position to the best of my ability.

  • Exile for our former heads of state is not the solution, and I am against seeing them being dragged out of power and trashed in the dumpster of exile. Let’s be clear on that. Jean Claude Duvalier is in his country, how can you kick him out? Let’s assume he is being accused of many wrongdoings. You do not kick the accused out of the legal space where the legal offense was committed; you trial him there.  If President Obama is being charged of any wrongdoing while he is in office, for example, he is not going to be asked to leave the country; he will, rather, be held and trialed in the United States. So the notion that Duvalier must be kicked out of the country simply because we do not have a working justice system to trial him is extrapolation at its best.

 

  • We cannot be saying that he must not be arrested and trialed IF there are charges against him. It’s either we want a democracy or an anarchy. Democracy is all about allowing the democratic institutions to breathe on their own. Duvalier cannot be above the law. I am for his return to his country. Haiti is his homeland –not France, not the United States, not Canada; therefore, he has all the right to stay in his native land. However, if there are legal charges held against him, they MUST be addressed in court. That is how it should be. Otherwise, how can you hold our elected officials accountable for their mismanagement of the nation’s business during their terms in office if we don’t have a functioning justice system to give them a clean bill of service? If we want to enjoy the beauty of democracy, we need to strengthen our institutions. That’s what we ought to be   doing. We need to let the institution of justice in the country decide on his fate. That’s how democracy works. Well, I hope I am not mistaken; democracy is the system of government we claim having in Haiti. 

 

  • Should he be arrested and trialed, demagoguery or not, that must be within the realm of application of justice. If there is a warrant issued for his arrest, he must appear in court with his lawyer to answer to the charges; he deserves a fair trial. It’s a matter of principle. He could be in custody, but that would not mean he is guilty of anything. He is innocent until proven otherwise. However, justice MUST pursue its course.

 

  • Many of you are so naïve calling for a takeover of the country by him -someone who cannot even speak clearly, walk around with a steady gait, and raise his hands. In other words, you need a sick man, who is in no shape or form to lead, to be on the wheel driving us to safety. Other than the same old politics of the past, what new if anything would he bring to move the country forward? His politics is just as archaic as he looks aged. We must not be turning back the clock, and we must certainly not be living this new millennium with a mindset buried in the past. We need to retire all these old-timers and embrace the emergence of a new generation of leaders to lead this nation in this 21st century. So the notion that he must return in politics to lead the country again is just retarded and ridiculous.  

 In conclusion, Duvalier’s return to the country has surprised all of us; we did not see it coming. It took most of us by surprise. One thing we all can agree upon, regardless our politics, is that it did not occur in isolation; there is a reason why it happened when it happened. I see it as a political card used exactly to achieve a political end. It will be exploited by some political powers on the country’s political playing field to capitalize on. However one wants to look at it, the reception the former dictator received upon his arrival at Toussaint Louverture Airport in Port–au-Prince and beyond testifies of the failure of our political class and its repudiation by the people. So we need a new way with a class of new generation of leaders to turn things around in this country. To call for a takeover of the country by Duvalier is to turn the clock three decades back, and that is not smart politics. I am against exile for our heads of state. As far as I am concerned, all of them –from Raoul Cedras to Jean Bertrand Aristide –currently living in exile have their full irrefutable and inalienable right to return to their home country. As Haitian citizens, no one can take that right away from them. However, if there are charges held against them, they need to answer to them in court, and they do deserve a fair trial. As of yet, they are all innocent until otherwise can be proven. In the meantime, let me sit back with my popcorn watching how interesting this political circus in Haiti is going to be with this new clown added to the mix. I hope you too will have fun watching it.