Yesterday, Jean-Claude Duvalier held his much-postponed news conference accompanied by that paragon of virtue, former Congressman Bob Barr, longtime Clinton antagonist, author of DOMA, and instigator of Bill Clinton's impeachment in the House of Representatives as well as Georgia attorney Ed Marger, self-proclaimed family friend of the Duvaliers from the days of the father, François (Papa Doc) Duvalier. According to an AP report, Duvalier, another model of moral rectitude, stated that he had returned from exile on the anniversary of Haiti's massive earthquake (well, not exactly, closer to MLK Day whom he dared to evoke in his statements) to help his country, as Marger put it,
"collect undelivered reconstruction funds promised by the United States and other countries at the March 31, 2010, U.N. donors' conference. He said Duvalier could manage them more effectively than former U.S. President Bill Clinton and distribute them more justly than current Haitian President Rene Preval."
Well I suppose it should come as no surprise, considering the company "Baby Doc" keeps, that he thinks he would be better at distributing the funds than Bill Clinton, but as Clinton's wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has pointed out numerous times, the recovery operation is under the direction of the Haitian government, not of donor countries or NGOs. Unfortunately, the Haitian government is somewhat hobbled at the moment with a runoff election coming up in February. This may or may not be obstructing some of the recovery effort, but it apparently will not impede the judiciary from prosecuting Duvalier on a laundry list of abuses of power.
In an apparently coincidental development related to the contested election, the State Department has revoked the visas of some unidentified Haitian officials for suspected corruption and/or participation in the violence associated with the contested election. In yesterday's press briefing, P.J. Crowley addressed the visa issue and briefly remarked on the return of Duvalier.
Philip J. CrowleyAssistant Secretary
Daily Press BriefingWashington, DCJanuary 21, 2011QUESTION: Do you expect a change of regime in Haiti?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, there’s actually an active election process underway in Haiti. There has been a first round of voting.
QUESTION: Yes. You are canceling the visas --
MR. CROWLEY: The OES has expressed its concern about the preliminary results. We hope that Government of Haiti will respect and embrace the recommendations of the OES verification mission and then move on to a second round of voting where we can see the emergence of a legitimate, respected government in Haiti.
QUESTION: No, but when you are revoking the visas, you are giving a kind of yes to some sort of political angle.
MR. CROWLEY: No, our – we respect the will of the Haitian people. They voted in a first round. There are strong reasons to believe that the results that were announced do not reflect the will of the Haitian people. We want to see those results and the will of the Haitian people respected and have a credible final round of voting that produces a new government that will enact the plan that Haiti has undertaken to rebuild its country.
QUESTION: Any comments on Baby Doc?
MR. CROWLEY: I don't think his visit has worked out quite the way he expected.
