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I hope I spelled that name right.... I was astounded to learn this news today.  Many of the people here are too young to remember the kind of leaders "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier were, but they were HORRIBLE!! I can't believe that Jr is back in Haiti and maybe thinking about running for president.  If you're not familier with their history give it a quick google and you'll know what I'm talking about.  

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while we're on the topic of haiti....




More than 200 nonprofit groups and governments around the world rushed to Haiti's aid after the Jan. 12 quake. But the absence of construction cranes and stalled progress on major projects such as hospitals and schools has many people wondering: Where did all that money go? The short answer: Keeping people alive.

It went to employing Haitians in short-term low-paying jobs, providing tents and tarps, and supplying food for four months. It paid for amputations, vaccinations of a million people and rubble removal.

But Haitians, watch dog groups and other critics complain that much of the money raised went toward foreigners' salaries, expensive vehicles or sits in the bank waiting for projects to get moving.

International nonprofit organizations spent $1,500 per person last year on tents, shelters, latrines, showers, water and medical services for the 1.5 million people like Siane who lost their homes or left them after the earthquake.

With at least 810,000 people still living in 1,150 ad hoc settlements a year after the devastating quake, Haitian government officials and leading humanitarian organizations say they are burning through donations at a furious pace even with about 60 percent of the $1.3 billion Americans contributed still unspent.

As Haiti's humanitarian crisis drags on, the money Americans donated will be lost to basic services, which most Haitians did not have even before the quake. And while the private money is going fast, the $2 billion governments around the world pledged to spend in 2010 on reconstruction, experts agree, remain mostly on drawing boards and in bank accounts.

When the 7.0 an earthquake shook Haiti at 4:53 p.m. Jan. 12, people around the world responded. Moved by the images of a death toll that the government estimated at 300,000, cash started pouring in.

Doctors Without Borders raised $9 million in a single day without even asking for it. In the first weekend after the tremor, Catholics in the United States pooled $90 million in collections.

Governments later pledged $10 billion over a decade. The Red Cross alone raised $479 million, of which $245 million have so far been committed or spent. The U.S. government spent more than $1 billion here last year, including $400,000 for the military presence in the crucial early weeks.

Many organizations cite what they spent on shelter as soon as the funds are committed to a project-well before the homes are completed.

The organizations do use money raised to pay salaries and operational costs such as vehicles and office space.



you can read more here:

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/09/3311676/critics-question-funds-raised.html

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I heard that many other countries haven't kept up with their promises, like sending equipment, etc.  Only 5% of the rubble has been removed to date. Here is a rather lengthy article about him, but apparently they are thinking of trying him for his past atrocities. Maybe they can get some of the money back that he stole from the country, while they're at it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/baby-doc-duvalier-haiti-r_n_810305.html

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i just wanna know why he's called "baby doc."

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Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
i just wanna know why he's called "baby doc."

Because his father was called Papa Doc?

(no, seriously, that's why he was called baby doc....)

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hmm.