Duvalier is allowed back into Haiti but Aristide is not?

I am seriously wondering if the Pentagon isn't behind "Baby Doc's" return. They could be getting a little uneasy over the instability and chaos persisting in Haiti right about now.

He's probably just returning to the scene of the crime as criminals sometimes do. Apparently disgraced US-backed dictators should learn to budget themselves on the enormous wealth they abscond with.

Duvalier faces corruption, other charges

excerpt:

Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was charged with corruption, theft and misappropriation of funds on Tuesday, amid accusations he expropriated hundreds of millions of dollars during his 16-year presidency.

The charges must now be investigated by a judge, who will decide whether there is enough evidence to go to trial. That process can take up to three months.

Did anyone hear cbc radio's reporting of this on the evening news yesterday?  There was an interview with someone from (I think) Human Rights Watch giving some of the same general comments as above.  The only Haitian they interviewed supported Duvalier.  The reporter then talked about the earthquake, the chaos, the amount of work to be done to rebuild, and the need for a strong leader.  So we're to think that it's foreigner do-gooders interfering, Haitians support this criminal, and he is the one to lead Haiti from ruin.  That's how I heard it, anyway.  It made want to cry.  (I wrote a letter instead.)

America says no to Aristide's return..

With Baby Doc Back In Haiti, Aristide Calls Next

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110120/haiti-exiled-jean-bertrand...

"The US State Department reacted to the letter in a series of posts by spokesman PJ Crowley on Twitter. 'This is an important period for Haiti. What it needs is calm, not divisive actions that distract from the task of forming a new government,' said one. The other, 'We do not doubt President Aristide's desire to help the people of Haiti. But today Haiti needs to focus on its future not its past.'"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/17/jean-clau...

"What is certain, is that Baby Doc's return is merely the starkest manifestation yet of a basic political fact; after the interlude of 1990-2004, Haiti has once again become a de facto dictatorship; its affairs are at the mercy of the international community, and this latest so-called democratic election is double speak for a process that effectively ensures the near total disempowerment, exclusion and pacification of the Haitian people."

Maxine Waters Opposes Plot to Control Haiti

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/MW/1_18_11/1_18_11.html

"The plot to control Haiti has gone from the absurd to the ridiculous. I am deeply concerned that the wealthy elite of Haiti, who supported the Duvalier regime in the past, along with the assistance of international agencies, may have encouraged Duvalier to return. It is important that we determine what role US officials played.."

Any similar statements yet from any Canadian politicians?

al-Qa'bong wrote:

The CBC radio news announced today that Baby Doc has been charged with crimes against humanity.

I'm shocked, yet pleasantly surprised.  What's the catch?

None of it makes sense, but sometimes these things happen. He may in fact be so arrogant that he figured he could just waltz in there and be welcomed back (and in fact there seem to be plenty willing to do just that). Perhaps he hadn't counted on the long memories of those in Haiti, and in the diaspora.

It sure looks as if he has unknowingly put into his country's hands the opportunity for closure on his regume.

Thank god for the stupidity and  hubris of authoritarian leaders is all I have to say.

Could well be a sucker job. The elite in Haiti and their Americano friends might sacrifice one of their own in a feeble attempt to look good and create a glint of legitimacy for themselves in the eyes of the people theyve crooked and robbed and brutalized for many years.

Haiti Ex Ruler Calls Haitians to Unite

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161338.html

"Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier ahs invited the people of Haiti to take part in what he calls the country's rebirth, after acknowledging the victims of his former government.."

Hmmm.... I wonder what Mssrs. Barr and Duvalier's real gameplans for Haiti are. My guess is they're probably being assisted and taking orders from the Pentagon.

Reliving Duvalier; Waiting for Aristide - by Laura Flynn

http://www.counterpunch.org/flynn01272011.html

"For the veterans of this struggle to have to watch Jean-Claude Duvalier return a free man to the scene of his crimes now -- on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, after losing 300,000 countrymen; while a cholera epidemic rages, having already taken 4,000 lives; while a UN military mission occupies the country, at a cost of over $500 million a year, while the UN cannot even raise a third of that to fight the cholera that its troops brought to the country in the first place;

while more than a million people live in the streets of Port-au-Prince under nothing more than shredded tarps, after an 'election' that wa an insult to democracy, (excluding Fanmi Lavalas Haiti's largest political party) drawing less than 25 percent of eligible voters and riddled with fraud and irregularities even for the limited voting that did take place;

and while Haiti's twice democratically-elected former President, Jean Bertrand Aristide, is in forced exile in South Africa -- under these circumstances watching Duvalier return was excruciating. The presence of Jodel Chamberlain, the founder of the notorious death squad FRAPH, which terrorized Haiti from 1991-1924 at Duvalier's side as he went to court was flat-out terrifying. The traumatic symbolism of Duvalier's return at Haiti's weakest hours, is an insult to the dead and an assault on the living..."

On My Return to Haiti

http://www.zcommunications.org/on-my-return-to-haiti-by-jean-bertrand-ar...

"A profit driven recovery plan, devised and carried out by outsiders, cannot reconstruct my country. I will return to Haiti, to the field I know best and love: education. We can only agree with the words of the great Nelson Mandela, that indeed education is a powerful weapon for changing the world.."

I couldn't help notice that when Baby Doc returned he looked exactly like a zombie.  His movements and facial expression was that of a man heavily drugged.  This could not have escaped the notice of Haitians either. 

It was a frightening scene to see a man who murdered thousands shuffling about with a pereptually dazed look on his face as if the High Priest (Papa Doc himself) was commanding him from beyond the grave.

Given Canada's demonstrated complicity in supporting Duvalier's regime and hostility to Aristide, it is hardly an honest broker to be solicited to handle such an important case for Haiti. Similarly, the cited examples of Yugoslavia and Rwanda prosecutions were both fixed -game, imperial kangaroo courts as well. I note the comments appended are as racist and rank as ever on CBC online.

Quote:

A White House spokesman says President Obama has personally weighed in on the apparently imminent return from exile of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor says Obama recently called the president of South Africa, where Aristide has been in exile since he was ousted in a rebellion in 2004.

Vietor told The Associated Press on Thursday that Obama told South African President Jacob Zuma about "deep concerns" the U.S. has over Aristide's plans to return just before Haiti's presidential election Sunday. He says the U.S. believes Aristide's return could be destabilizing to the fragile country. - CP March 17, 2011

[b]The U.S. is desperate to keep Aristide out until after the phony election is completed.[/b]

Quote:

As Wikileaks cables reveal, the US Department of State has been intensely lobbying Brazil to use its influence in South Africa, where Aristide resides in exile, to prevent his departure. Unfortunately, the strong independent streak Lula exhibited in other areas of foreign policy didn't extend to Haiti, where Brazil has largely supported efforts by the "international community," led by the US, Canada and France, to place the island country in receivership after having drove Aristide out in 2004.

[url=http://www.thenation.com/blog/159292/deliberately-cynically-and-steadfas..., Cynically and Steadfastly: Obama Heads South as Aristide Moves North?[/url]

Michel Martelly, a singer and entertainer, may have triumphed in Haiti's presidential elections, according to recently released partial results.

Tally sheets read out on local media on Monday, showed Martelly was well ahead of his rival, former first lady Mirlande Manigat, in key urban areas including Petionville and the Cite Soleil slum in the capital Port-au-Prince.

Even before voting stations closed on Sunday, Martelly supporters were triumphantly taking to the streets, but there has been no claim of victory from the candidate and final results are not expected until April 16.

Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker, reporting from Port-au-Prince, said that martelly supporters had begun celebrating what they saw as a victory for the candidate

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/03/2011321163040122901.html

BAR: The Election Charade Masks US War Against Haiti

http://blackagendareport.com/content/election-charade-masks-us-war-again...

"The farcical Us imposed elections have yielded grotesque results: The most popular person in Haiti, Aristide and his supporters are treated as political outlaws, while the presidency is guaranteed to go to an associate of the most hated man in Haiti, 'Baby Doc' Duvalier.."