Baby Doc casts a faint shadow over troubled Haiti (News Feature)

By Silvia Ayuso Jan 23, 2011, 6:55 GMT

Port-au-Prince - There is not much trace left these days of the cherubic face that inspired Jean-Claude Duvalier's nickname, Baby Doc. At 59, the ex-dictator of Haiti is looking tired and ill.

His unexpected return from exile last Sunday to the nation that had trembled under his regime provoked shock and indignation, as well as muted enthusiasm among part of a desperate population that wanted to believe his claims to wish only to help.

One week on, Haiti has returned to routine and the presence of Duvalier has not had much effect on a people still suffering from the worst natural disaster in their history: the earthquake a year ago that destroyed much of what had stood in the hemisphere's poorest country.

Traffic in Port-au-Prince rumbles along in its habitually chaotic and loud rhythm. On the footpaths, vendors spread their wares before potential buyers who earn their way scavenging through rubble and garbage of the devastated capital.

Noise, dust, chaos, music, screams form the palette of a city that vibrates with life in spite of the despair. The return of Baby Doc has not stirred up much interest.

Duvalier appeared Friday before local and international media to call for 'national reconciliation,' even borrowing words of slain US civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King to buttress his stated intentions.

Introduced as 'President Duvalier,' the wan figure spoke in a weak voice as he declared his goal of helping to rebuild the country and demonstrate his solidarity with a people he left 25 years ago.

Perhaps as a gesture toward reconciliation, Duvalier made vague reference to errors committed under his reign and said he felt 'profound sadness' for those who consider themselves victims.

But it stopped short of an apology, and Duvalier nearly presented himself as a victim in saying that he had chosen to return despite the 'problems' that he could face - an acknowledgement of the wave of

accusations of corruption, misappropriation of public funds and violations of human rights since his return.

He was brief, taking barely seven minutes to read a prepared statement without any inflections of voice, and took no questions.

The event was held inside the private mansion where he has been staying in the exclusive Montaigne Noire area.

About 100 supporters waved the red-and-black flags of his regime and held up posters with a recent photograph of him. Many appeared to be the same faces as those seen in previous days celebrating his return elsewhere, and the orchestrated outpourings of support seemed less popular by the day.

Nevertheless, the weak show of support was also offset by a striking lack of demonstrations against his presence.

Reconstruction has not advanced in the country that also suffers from an epidemic of cholera as the government has been paralysed by a deep electoral crisis without a solution in sight.

It would seem that Haitians have too many problems to deal with rather than becoming concerned about a ghost from the past that - in any event - had left the country before half its current population was born.

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