Some Jean-Claudes kickbox their way to fame, but Haiti's former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was born into it. Like a true child of privilege, he spent his 1971-1986 term of office squandering the resources of his people, to their apparent surprise. They drove him out of the country, for he was no iron-willed military man, but merely an immature playboy. If you want their respect, don't let them call you "Baby Doc." Jean-Claude fled to France but was able to keep his fortune in Swiss bank accounts. He divided the rest of his time between resort-hopping and fighting in the Kumite.
The Swiss Government froze 4.6 million of Duvalier's funds with the assumption that they were ill-gotten. I don't see anything wrong with skimming a little off the top, but Switzerland wanted to make a public statement that their banks are no haven for thugs. The money was to be given back to Haiti. This statement looks real stupid now that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court overturned the freeze and handed Baby Doc his blank check back. This happened, incidentally, right before the earthquake hit. What a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites. To the developed world, Switzerland says "Hey, we're cleaning our act up, you naughty dictators and drug lords!" To the next aspiring class of tyrants they say "We take small bills, change, and U.N. food stamps too." The Swiss system has turned Jean-Claude into the biggest (West) Indian Giver the world's ever seen. Now the government has re-frozen the money, since it's become a PR fiasco.
Picture this as a dictator: you're exiled, your funds are frozen, your home country has an earthquake, and then your fortunes magically reverse: all of a sudden all your money is yours again and your nation is more or less leaderless. Now it's time to come back home. Use your freshly-released millions to hire an army, pass out food and proclaim that you willed the earthquake to happen because your countrymen spurned you. Assume the throne and rule until your death, when a willing successor will be ready to reign in your place. Don't forget to line your pockets and buy extra-fine gold epaulets with all the earthquake relief money. Dynasty restored, people relatively happy, history rewritten.
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