What are Baby Doc’s real intentions for returning to Haiti?

Haiti is still in a political mess while the rebuilding efforts have been quite slow since the earthquake destroyed much of the country. With all these mounting problems, a former, ruthless dictator had to show up?

Everybody is quite curious for a good reason. He was a former dictator that used torture and secret police to terrify a nation. With a power vacuum in the country, there is a chance that he might be seeking the same presidential powers he once held.

His friends are arguing that his visit is nothing more than a goodwill gesture to his country and his people. There have so far no official petitions by him to run for any political office, and he is also facing potential criminal charges that will require a significant amount of time…and luck to defend himself.

I think the Haitian authorities should give him a dignified trial and lock him up to the maximum extent the law requires. But this scenario seems to be too plausible in that it is not a rational strategy for Baby Doc to face justice, unless some transcending moral awakening occurred in his consciousness.

This is purely a speculation, but I am quite sure that there is an internal corrupted official, who is currently an ally of Baby Doc and holds a significant position within the current government, that is somehow guaranteeing Baby Doc’s safety against all possible attack against the former dictator. Unless Baby Doc was somehow threatened to go to Haiti against his own will, there is no other condition that would give him a rational interest to return to the country without some type of privilege guaranteed by the current government (i.e. an unknown corrupted official).

If this speculation holds, then we have a greater political problem in Haiti. We have potentially a high enough corruption level within the current government that the former dictator of Haiti is not afraid of returning to his own country in which the people still remembers the torturous rule he had once held. Something needs to be done quickly before the presidential election, or the legitimacy of the political system is at stake.

So, would the international community step in and weed out the corrupted officials from the government? I doubt it, because first, most are probably still concentrating on the infrastructure rebuilding efforts and second, I doubt that the western government would actually care that much on the issue. We should remember that it was France that allowed the former dictator to live a relatively good life in his self imposed exile. If the western world was serious, then why wasn’t the dictator charged in some high international court?

Hopefully, the Haitian judicial system can somehow rise up and provide a good trial against this dictator. This is such a great opportunity for justice.