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| Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haiti’s ‘Baby Doc,’ Dies at 63 | Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haiti’s ‘Baby Doc,’ Dies at 63 |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MEXICO CITY — Jean-Claude Duvalier, a former dictator of Haiti known as Baby Doc who ruled the country with death and torture and then shocked the country anew with a sudden return from a 25-year exile in 2011, died on Saturday. | |
| The president of Haiti, Michel J. Martelly, announced the death in a statement and in a post on Twitter. | The president of Haiti, Michel J. Martelly, announced the death in a statement and in a post on Twitter. |
| Mr. Duvalier, 63, died of a heart attack at his home in Port-au-Prince, his lawyer Reynold Georges told Reuters. | Mr. Duvalier, 63, died of a heart attack at his home in Port-au-Prince, his lawyer Reynold Georges told Reuters. |
| Mr. Duvalier maintained a quiet defiance and defense of what human rights workers called one of the most oppressive regimes in the hemisphere, following in the footsteps of his father, François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, who died in 1971. | Mr. Duvalier maintained a quiet defiance and defense of what human rights workers called one of the most oppressive regimes in the hemisphere, following in the footsteps of his father, François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, who died in 1971. |
| The younger Duvalier was 19 when he assumed the post of “President for Life,” as he and his father called it, becoming the youngest head of state at the time. | |
| He never apologized for the atrocities committed under his government, including brutal crackdowns on opponents at the hands of the feared Tonton Macoutes civilian militia that left upward of a thousand people, if not more, dead, disappeared or illegally detained in harsh prisons. | |
| Indeed, Mr. Duvalier defended himself, as victims of his regime pursued corruption and human rights abuse charges in Haitian courts, where he calmly denied wrongdoing and even asserted that the country was better off when he ruled. | Indeed, Mr. Duvalier defended himself, as victims of his regime pursued corruption and human rights abuse charges in Haitian courts, where he calmly denied wrongdoing and even asserted that the country was better off when he ruled. |
| “Were there deaths and summary executions under your government?” a judge asked him at a hearing in March 2013. | “Were there deaths and summary executions under your government?” a judge asked him at a hearing in March 2013. |
| “Deaths exist in all countries,” Mr. Duvalier replied almost inaudibly. “I didn’t intervene in the activities of the police.” | “Deaths exist in all countries,” Mr. Duvalier replied almost inaudibly. “I didn’t intervene in the activities of the police.” |
| He regularly dined in Port-au-Prince restaurants and attended events at the invitation of Mr. Martelly, whose administration has included relatives and allies of people associated with Mr. Duvalier. | He regularly dined in Port-au-Prince restaurants and attended events at the invitation of Mr. Martelly, whose administration has included relatives and allies of people associated with Mr. Duvalier. |
| This year, the former dictator announced he was forming a political party, though analysts were not sure if it was a serious move or a thumb in the eye of the rival he loathed and who succeeded him, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, another formerly exiled president who had also returned and is still seen as a political force. | This year, the former dictator announced he was forming a political party, though analysts were not sure if it was a serious move or a thumb in the eye of the rival he loathed and who succeeded him, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, another formerly exiled president who had also returned and is still seen as a political force. |
| Mr. Duvalier fled the country in 1986, as political repression and spiraling economic conditions in what was then and still is the hemisphere’s poorest country set off violent unrest. He asked France for asylum and the United States for the plane that would take him there, an American official said at the time. | |
| His departure set the stage for democratic, though tumultuous, elections. Human rights groups have said that he looted Haiti’s treasury of millions of dollars and has largely lived off ill-gotten gains ever since. | |
| His presence in the country and the fact that he would now escape trial appalled victims and human rights workers. | His presence in the country and the fact that he would now escape trial appalled victims and human rights workers. |
| “On Duvalier’s death, I’m thinking of the look in my mother’s eyes when she talks about her brother Joel, who was disappeared by that dictator,” Patrick Gaspard, the American ambassador to South Africa, who is Haitian-American, posted on Twitter on Saturday. “News of the passing of Duvalier makes me honor my father and generations of Haitians who resisted that vicious dictatorship.” | “On Duvalier’s death, I’m thinking of the look in my mother’s eyes when she talks about her brother Joel, who was disappeared by that dictator,” Patrick Gaspard, the American ambassador to South Africa, who is Haitian-American, posted on Twitter on Saturday. “News of the passing of Duvalier makes me honor my father and generations of Haitians who resisted that vicious dictatorship.” |
| Mr. Duvalier was born July 3, 1951, in Port-au-Prince. Biographical sketches at the time he became president described him as an introvert who liked fast cars and jazz and was a martial arts enthusiast. He spoke English, Spanish and French and attended classes at the University of Haiti, though diplomats whispered that he was unprepared for office and speculated that his father’s ministers would be the power behind the throne. | |
| But Mr. Duvalier took obvious cues from his father and quickly squashed whatever dissent emerged. He curried favor with the United States and exploited its Cold War aims to ensure Haiti did not fall under the sway of Cuba. | |
| Investment increased, and he pushed a program of urbanization. He welcomed nongovernment organizations to fill in what his government could not or would not do, leading to a heavy presence that still exists today. | |
| “Jean-Claude Duvalier inherited a carefully constructed state apparatus for political repression from his father, and he largely maintained it during his regime,” said Laurent Dubois, a Duke University professor and expert on contemporary Haitian history. “But he also cultivated new connections with the U.S., seeking new types of investment in the country.” | |
| Jean-Claude Duvalier, a former dictator of Haiti known as Baby Doc who ruled the country with death and torture and then shocked the country anew with a sudden return from a 25-year exile in 2011, died on Saturday. | |
| The president of Haiti, Michel J. Martelly, announced the death in a statement and in a post on Twitter. | |
| Mr. Duvalier, 63, died of a heart attack at his home in Port-au-Prince, his lawyer Reynold Georges told Reuters. | |
| Mr. Duvalier maintained a quiet defiance and defense of what human rights workers called one of the most oppressive regimes in the hemisphere, following in the footsteps of his father, François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, who died in 1971. | |
| The younger Duvalier was 19 when he assumed the post of “President for Life,” as he and his father called it, becoming the youngest head of state at the time. | |
| He never apologized for the atrocities committed under his government, including brutal crackdowns on opponents at the hands of the feared Tonton Macoutes civilian militia that left upward of a thousand people, if not more, dead, disappeared or illegally detained in harsh prisons. | |
| Indeed, Mr. Duvalier defended himself, as victims of his regime pursued corruption and human rights abuse charges in Haitian courts, where he calmly denied wrongdoing and even asserted that the country was better off when he ruled. | |
| “Were there deaths and summary executions under your government?” a judge asked him at a hearing in March 2013. | |
| “Deaths exist in all countries,” Mr. Duvalier replied almost inaudibly. “I didn’t intervene in the activities of the police.” | |
| He regularly dined in Port-au-Prince restaurants and attended events at the invitation of Mr. Martelly, whose administration has included relatives and allies of people associated with Mr. Duvalier. | |
| This year, the former dictator announced he was forming a political party, though analysts were not sure if it was a serious move or a thumb in the eye of the rival he loathed and who succeeded him, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, another formerly exiled president who had also returned and is still seen as a political force. | |
| Mr. Duvalier fled the country in 1986, as political repression and spiraling economic conditions in what was then and still is the hemisphere’s poorest country set off violent unrest. He asked France for asylum and the United States for the plane that would take him there, an American official said at the time. | |
| His departure set the stage for democratic, though tumultuous, elections. Human rights groups have said that he looted Haiti’s treasury of millions of dollars and has largely lived off ill-gotten gains ever since. | |
| His presence in the country and the fact that he would now escape trial appalled victims and human rights workers. | |
| “On Duvalier’s death, I’m thinking of the look in my mother’s eyes when she talks about her brother Joel, who was disappeared by that dictator,” Patrick Gaspard, the American ambassador to South Africa, who is Haitian-American, posted on Twitter on Saturday. “News of the passing of Duvalier makes me honor my father and generations of Haitians who resisted that vicious dictatorship.” | |
| Mr. Duvalier was born July 3, 1951, in Port-au-Prince. Biographical sketches at the time he became president described him as an introvert who liked fast cars and jazz and was a martial arts enthusiast. He spoke English, Spanish and French and attended classes at the University of Haiti, though diplomats whispered that he was unprepared for office and speculated that his father’s ministers would be the power behind the throne. | |
| But Mr. Duvalier took obvious cues from his father and quickly squashed whatever dissent emerged. He curried favor with the United States and exploited its Cold War aims to ensure Haiti did not fall under the sway of Cuba. | |
| Investment increased, and he pushed a program of urbanization. He welcomed nongovernment organizations to fill in what his government could not or would not do, leading to a heavy presence that still exists today. | |
| “Jean-Claude Duvalier inherited a carefully constructed state apparatus for political repression from his father, and he largely maintained it during his regime,” said Laurent Dubois, a Duke University professor and expert on contemporary Haitian history. “But he also cultivated new connections with the U.S., seeking new types of investment in the country.” | |
| As political oppression mounted, so did stories of his extravagences. When he fled the country, American officials said, he held $200 million to $500 million in foreign bank accounts and had a reputation for million-dollar vacations at the world’s finest resorts, as millions of Haitians lived in squalor and scrounged for food. | |
| Mr. Duvalier is survived by his wife, Veronique Roy; a son, Francois Nicolas Duvalier, also known as Nico; and a daughter, Anya, both from an earlier marriage. | |
| While in exile, he kept a low profile, but he suddenly returned to Haiti in Jan. 16, 2011, saying the January 2010 earthquake had broken his heart and he wanted to help rebuild the country. | |
| But others wondered if he was making a bid to secure money still stashed away; he had admitted he lost a fortune to jewelry, trips and an expensive divorce from his first wife, Michele Bennett, scion of a coffee-producing family. | |
| He looked frail and far thinner than the 250 pounds he once sported on his six-foot frame, and with his occasional trips to the hospital, Haitian news media speculated he came home to die. |