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dreamland and treachery
Jan. 18th, 2011 05:24 amI just woke from the oddest dream. ( cut because other people's dreams are annoying )
So Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier is back in Haiti. This is, in my opinion, utter betrayal on the part of our government. If we had the power and the means to force Duvalier, his family, and his regime out of Haiti twenty-five years ago, we certainly have the power to keep him out. His departure was celebrated by Haiti's people, and they hunted down and killed his Macoute (translated: "bogeymen"), who had acted outside the law for years, stealing, raping, pillaging, and otherwise terrorizing poor villagers. They were known by their trademark mirrored sunglasses, which were found discarded all over Haiti after Duvalier's departure, in an attempt to hide themselves amongst the people. But memories are long. Mirrored sunglasses would not stop me from recognizing a Macoute who had raped my daughter or murdered my son, and I would take grim pleasure in my vengeance.
When Baby Doc left Haiti, he took much of the country's wealth with him. As despicable as this was, we apparently tolerated it in return for his promise that he would NEVER return. But he has left Paris, where he's been living in comfort for the last quarter-century, and he has returned to Haiti, perhaps sensing a power-vacuum in the continuing devastation after last year's quake. I am angry that we did not hold him to his word, and I am fearful of the havoc he may wreak now that he's back. Haiti's poor and hungry hold a special place in my heart, and I pray for their well-being.
Pax et bonum,
~O~
ETA: Hooray! Duvalier has been detained by Haitian police and taken before a judge, who will determine whether he will stand trial for his reign of greed and terror.
So Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier is back in Haiti. This is, in my opinion, utter betrayal on the part of our government. If we had the power and the means to force Duvalier, his family, and his regime out of Haiti twenty-five years ago, we certainly have the power to keep him out. His departure was celebrated by Haiti's people, and they hunted down and killed his Macoute (translated: "bogeymen"), who had acted outside the law for years, stealing, raping, pillaging, and otherwise terrorizing poor villagers. They were known by their trademark mirrored sunglasses, which were found discarded all over Haiti after Duvalier's departure, in an attempt to hide themselves amongst the people. But memories are long. Mirrored sunglasses would not stop me from recognizing a Macoute who had raped my daughter or murdered my son, and I would take grim pleasure in my vengeance.
When Baby Doc left Haiti, he took much of the country's wealth with him. As despicable as this was, we apparently tolerated it in return for his promise that he would NEVER return. But he has left Paris, where he's been living in comfort for the last quarter-century, and he has returned to Haiti, perhaps sensing a power-vacuum in the continuing devastation after last year's quake. I am angry that we did not hold him to his word, and I am fearful of the havoc he may wreak now that he's back. Haiti's poor and hungry hold a special place in my heart, and I pray for their well-being.
Pax et bonum,
~O~
ETA: Hooray! Duvalier has been detained by Haitian police and taken before a judge, who will determine whether he will stand trial for his reign of greed and terror.
