Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier dies
How and why the U.S. assisted his departure from Haiti
“Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvalier ran Haiti for several decades in a most corrupt and brutal manor. After assuming power in 1971, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier continued the autocratic and harsh rule instituted by his father, with thousands of Haitians killed or tortured during his regime. Jean Claude maintained a most lavish lifestyle and reportedly made millions through the drug trade and even from selling body parts of dead Haitians! Poverty and corruption marked his regime, with Haiti the worst country in the Americas in both areas.
Duvalier was ostracized by the Carter administration, but was given a fresh look by President Reagan because of the fierce opposition to communism by the regime. However, Duvalier squandered whatever goodwill that had been engendered, as economic conditions worsened internally, hunger and malnutrition spread, and government corruption soared.
By the mid-1980’s a revolution began in the rural areas that grew in strength despite government crackdowns. Given that the Duvalier regime maintained the instruments of coercion and suppression, it appeared that either the rebellion would be stamped out or the country would be hit by increasing violence, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties.
Early in 1986 the Reagan administration began to pressure Duvalier to abdicate the Presidency and leave Haiti. If he stayed, there certainly would have been widespread mayhem, deaths, and potentially a deep economic collapse. He had to go, period.
We would not permit Baby Doc to come to the U.S., but we would facilitate his departure and look for a country to accept him. We had leaned on President Mitterrand to agree to provide sanctuary for Duvalier, which the French initially were reluctant to do, but finally did after extensive negotiations. They also agreed to provide a chateau for him and his family in the southern part of the country.
I once came across a book called “White House E-mail“, a compendium of top secret computer messages “the Reagan White House tried to destroy”. The book provided several e-mails sent by myself to the U.S. Ambassador to France, Joe Rodgers, to the National Security Advisor, Admiral John Poindexter, and communications between Secretary of State, George Schultz, and French Foreign Minister, Roland Dumas.
The stories noted that Duvalier made a quick exit from Haiti following a growing internal revolution directed at overthrowing his regime. What was also highlighted was that Duvalier was able to leave Haiti thanks to U.S. intervention, persuading him that his personal and the country’s interests were served best by his departure. The U.S. military flew in to Port-au- Prince to pick up Duvalier and his family and fly them to France.
The conclusion that this book would like you to draw is that the United States assisted a good friend, Duvalier, and provided him with a luxurious retirement environment. In fact, we were leaned on heavily by several Caribbean states and the government of France to do what we could to prevent what was certainly going to be far reaching bloodshed and deaths as the Duvalier regime would employ all of its military assets against the rebellion. In order to save lives, and to permit a peaceful transfer of power, it was imperative that we evacuate Duvalier as quickly as possible.
Our efforts worked, as we were able to “persuade Duvalier to get his family on the plane and accept the French offer of refuge”, as the quoted emails noted. With his departure, the rebels seized power and a peaceful change of government took place.
As a footnote, Baby Doc lived quietly in France until a few years ago when he, oddly enough, returned to Haiti! Although there were some demands to bring him to justice, he never faced a tribunal and lived out his last days there, dying just a month ago.
And, contrary to what this scandal book would suggest, our being able to remove Duvalier at a critical time saved countless lives.
– Tyrus W. Cobb