Sunday, January 16, 2011

Confusion

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that Jean-Claude Duvalier has returned to Haiti. His father was vicious; sometimes I think Jean-Claude was just young and stupid. I mean, he became president of Haiti at age 19. I think we all know he wasn't calling the shots - literally or figuratively. I still remember George S saying that the day would come when people would be begging for JCD to come back. While talking with one of my colleagues last week, I made the comment that I didn't think every country benefited from democracy. I think countries with decades of incredible, demoralizing disaster (like Haiti) would benefit from a benevolent dictatorship or monarchy... maybe a constitutional monarchy. I was as down on the entire Duvalier clan as anyone when I first arrived in Haiti in 1988 but now... after more than twenty years of corrupt, greedy, thieving presidents... I'm not as critical as I once was. The country was clean and people could eat when the Duvaliers were in charge. I know they did a lot of horrible stuff, but seriously, which one of the many presidents hasn't done the same? And now, even before the earthquake, the country is a mess and people are starving in unprecedented numbers. I don't know. I am confused about the entire scene. I know there will be many, many people who welcome him with open arms and about a 100 times more who want to lynch the guy. I hope he knows what he's doing, coming back at this time. Everything is such a mess, physically, politically, economically... I just hope his presence doesn't make everything worse. It just seems as though Haiti can't catch a break. One crisis after another. Oh well, more to pray about while hoping for the best.

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