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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

I DO REMEMBER


THE JEAN CLAUDE DUVALIER THAT I KNEW

By Frantz Bataille,
Former  Chief Editor at the Petit Samedi Soir
Former President Jean C. Duvalier

B
y the time the former president Jean C. Duvalier would go in court again, many would remember  the early  seventies when living in Haiti worth more than money and  travelling overseas.

After Dr Francois Duvalier passed away in 1971, few  thought that his regime could survive. However, as uncertainties were unfolding, given  a legacy of violence and serial invasion, M.Jean C. Duvalier started doing the difference with “ a  of touch of innocence”. To be precise, the late Duvalier seemed to have understood that the cold war was ending and time has come to soften his grip. What he did. Even after the historical visit of  the vice president Nelson Rockfeller to whom the Haitian people gave an outstanding welcome,  the hawks of Foggy Bottom didn’t forgive the so-called Papa Doc even though  it is obvious that he had saved America from communism.  However, the early years of the young Duvalier, by moving away from the hard core Duvalierists, brought in  Haitian life peace and openness.

M. Duvalier had always been a man of peace. Once, as  a friend of his had been under arrest, he moved quickly to his father’s  office,  shouting  that his close schoolmate was in danger.  Michael Heinl, the son of  colonel Robert N. Heinl from the Naval Mission, again today remembered how much his classmate  cared for him that day. But, in the spring 1963, the colonel  was forced to leave the country.  He had said to Bernard Diderich, the two-book author on the Duvalier’ regime: “ I would take the palace” as the Kennedy administration had decided  along with  Cyrus Vance,  the  Bill  Clinton’s  future Secretary of State , to storm the National Palace

At this time, journalists and diplomats noted, terror had pervaded the  entire society.  The 1963 spring in Haiti would have been remembered like the  worst in the second half of the 20th century. Back to the palace after this bloody morning of April 26,   an angry son asked  straight to his father “ then , Dad, what does that mean” as  the death toll was rising.  Long time later, before   renouncing to   power,  many were about to make history repeat itself like in 1963. “ I should have to put in use  all my authority to prevent people from organizing  a bloodbath in Haiti. “ When time has come to relinquish the power, you have to be careful.  It is always a critical moment in  political life”, the  former  president concluded.

He went on  to tell  “ Four or six nuns  have been taken  away from Siguenaud, Leogane , a few time  before my departure . “I want them  back home wherever they are detained”, I  declared.  Six hours later, these women were safely driven home. “ I took a relief, otherwise, I would be accused to have  them executed. concluded  the then president

This is this man that today has to go back and forth to court. Renowned  for his sense of   measure  and  tolerance, M. Duvalier  learned early how to handle uneasy situations. At the beginning,  he launched a policy of openness and reconciliation. Many exiles came back, some of them homesick, even those that Francois Duvalier helped with cash transfer. Moving forward, former opponents could visit their native land and families. Never had the Haitian society been living in such harmony,  people in their late fifties affirm.  There were sunny faces everywhere.

Haiti had then become a sort of Mecca like it used to be in the early fifties. “ The golden years” the American journalists  wrote. 1954 and 1979 are distant  from each other  by a 25 –year interval, but the explosive sixties had  never killed the Haitian joie de vivre.  M. Duvalier in his late twenties understood that this kind of emotional rewards  originated from the Haitian psyche, even life was still uncertain for a lot of families. In 1978, the good prices of  coffee in the international market  were echoing  deep into the countryside. Life was then worth living. Famous names  had been  stopping  by in Haiti: Richard Burton, Pablo Cassals,  Aristote Onassis and Sekou Toure.

Je N’ai Jamais Voulu Verser Le Sang De Mon Peuple

As a result, Haiti marveled to enjoy peace . “ I never heard Jean Claude Duvalier ordering  one execution, a close friend once affirmed.  “ Put him in jail, would be his only step to enforce the law. He used to speak to his  jailed opponents  “ you are free not to support my government”, he said by phone to a notorious foe detained in casernes Dessalines. Every Saturday morning, reading the Haitian Weekly: Le  Petit Samedi Soir,  a kind of barometer for Haitian politics, he was expected to take vital decisions by releasing detained or sending  by example water where drought was  threatening crop and livestock.


T
his is the jean Claude Duvalier that I knew from my early childhood, as in 1959, Castro was seizing the power in Cuba and the first Haitian  plane high jacking  opened the pathway to international  terrorism. By the mid 80s, a new world was about to be born , long time after the  vibrant Eisenhower years labeled the innocent ones despite the sneaking of communism into  the so-called back yard of Bill  Clinton. Human rights were then a concern and still are so. But, famous and iconic figures, whether Henri Kissinger or  the former under Secretary of  State for Latin American Affairs,  Eliot Abrams  never found out JCD’ hands in the blood of his fellows even if  shedding blood is to politicians  a sort of daily bread. By 1986, this is a tired and   disillusioned    man, but  still human and aware of the value of life, that gave up power. Henri Kissinger could make a declaration, protested the American ambassador in Haiti  Mc Manaway , but JCD wanted to leave, reluctant to oppose his citizens. It is like opening  the Pandore Box, the French diplomats thought.

Jean Calude Duvalier in his last speech will say in French:  Dieu m’est temoin, je n’ai jamais voulu verser le sang de mon people…

Later on the French Riviera,  the journalists he welcome home   would whisper between then :  He is not the man the press destroys so much.  The former president had to fight back his tears.