Not just fade away
Jean-Claude Duvalier: Hard times
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier (1951- ) succeeded his father as Haitian president for life in April 1971.
Duvalier left Haiti in 1986, reportedly after one last champagne party, in the face of increasing social unrest. He took up residence on France's Cote d'Azur.
Not everyone in France is happy with his presence there, however. He has been the subject of a court action, initiated by a private citizen, Jacques Samyn, to expel him as an illegal immigrant. Then, in 1998, a Haitian-born photographer, Gerard Bloncourt, formed a committee in Paris to bring Duvalier to trial, alleging that Baby Doc and his father ('Papa Doc' Duvalier) were responsible for 60,000 alleged murders during their rule. Bloncourt had been encouraged by the arrest in Britain of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
At the time, the French Ministry of the Interior said that it has lost track of Duvalier and that he had probably left the country. However, Duvalier's lawyer, Sauveur Vaisse, confirmed that his client was still in France. Vaisse also denied that, as a result of an extravagant lifestyle and an expensive divorce, the exiled leader had fallen on hard times. 'Living in France without work probably cost him a lot,' Vaisse said. 'But I saw him 10 days ago and he did not look like a tramp.'
Duvalier is still thought to be in France.
Find out more
Duvalier goes on TV to 'explain myself'
www.haitiwebs.com/forums/top_news/30515-duvalier_goes_tv_explain_myself.html
Report on Duvalier's first interview in 15 years, with extracts.
François Duvalier, Jean-Claude Duvalier
www.moreorless.au.com/killers/duvalier.html
Double chronology of father and son, part of the Heroes & Killers of the 20th Century website.
Newsday: Return of Duvalier
www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/227.html
Article about Baby Doc's desire to return to Haiti.
We Haitians.com
www.wehaitians.com/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/main.html
'The scholarly journal of democracy and human rights', with lots of
links and articles.
