Fast forward and rewind, if Mr and Mrs Ben Ali of Tunisia decide to revisit Tunisia in about a quarter of a century from now should they be welcomed back by anyone? What gives the likes of Baby Doc Dulvalier the emboldened courage to return to a nation that he plundered and pillaged with impunity twenty-five years ago. Glad to know that after a quarter of a century there are people around who remembered the dark deeds he committed, the innocent lives he took are still asking for him to be prosecuted.
Thinking about it as all fiendish dictators,Baby Doc believed that reeling from the effects of a devastating earthquake even a year on the sensibilities of the people would be dulled to point of vulnerability, and he would be welcomed like a hero. As ever arrogance usually personifies people of his ilk and character. How dare he swagger into the country under the noses of French authorities who claim they had no knowledge of his final destination until when they had boarded and the plane had departed.
At least France had the dignity not to grant the Ben-Alis asylum when they fled Tunisia but then they still hold whatever integrity they have left in question when you think of how as colonial masters they helped to spawn these evil monstrosities who they largely refuse to cut to size unless absolutely necessary.
It remains to be see what Baby Doc really wants to do with his second coming to Haiti but one has a pretty good idea that he sees a potential money tree looming again with all the international investment expected to go into the rebuilding of the infrastructure of the country and it was too good a gravy train for him to be able to pass up. I would like to postulate the theory that the law of retributive justice is about to deal Baby Doc a master stroke of fate. And he will still rue the day that he decided to return to Haiti to make fresh pickings instead of living out his days in a quiet forgotten existence in exile.
That said it still amounts to a disaster of different proportions when you think that someone with no moral conscience like Baby Doc who should be treated like a war criminal is walking around breathing the free air of his nation as if nothing really happened. This is a travesty that should be looked into and redressed. If not the international community who are giving us the impression that they are in Haiti to rebuild it and make things better than what they had ever been are laying a dangerous precedence for what former dictators can and cannot do. Justifying the wrong because it is easier to sweep the whole issue under the carpet and get on with the business of rebuilding instead of righting the wrongs of the past.
The foundation that they choose to bulid on is very shaky and I wouldn't be too surprised if it came crashing down around them some day soon. For Haiti this is a disaster that simply adds insult to a festering injury.
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