Sunday, January 16, 2011

Baby Doc?? What?

Word on the street is that Jean Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti tonight. I have no idea why or what this means for Haiti in the coming days. Unfortunately (or maybe very fortunately) neither Ben nor I are actually on the street... I arrived  in DC yesterday to speak at this event tomorrow morning. Eeeks. Ben is in North Carolina visiting Martha and I'll be joining him there at the end of the week. We fly back to Haiti on the 30th.

It feels strange to not be in Haiti right now with something so momentous happening. It feels even stranger that I want to be there, as if I'm afraid of missing out. I don't know what that says about my mental state, but it's probably not so good.

Here is an AP article on Baby Doc's return. I would love to write a bit based on the perspectives my colleagues at POHDH - the Haitian human rights platform where I worked for our first year in Haiti - shared with me about the brutal & oppressive Duvalier regime, the impact of a strong versus weak government on the human rights situation in Haiti, etc. But I should probably go over my presentation for tomorrow instead.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The return of Duvalier is disturbing. Enjoy your time with Martha! I hope you all have a great visit. Megan

Anonymous said...

Blessings on your presentation today and your work in DC and thanks for another well-articulated report! We continue to pray for peace and justice in Haiti!
Look forward to seeing you in WXW :-) much love, other M & D

Chris Taus said...

Hundreds of people “disappeared” or were executed. Members of Haiti’s armed forces and the militia National Security Volunteers – also known as the “tonton macoutes” — played a primary role in repressing pro-democracy and human rights activists. The “tonton macoutes” were disbanded in 1986 after Jean-Claude Duvalier went into exile.

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