Good food consoles Duvalier

Press, 11 February 1986, Page 10

Good food consoles Duvalier

NZPA-Reuter Talloires The former Haitian President, Jean-Claude Duvalier, said yesterday that he was satisfied with the welcome he has received in France.

He is enjoying the cooking of one of France’s top chefs in a four-star hotel. Mr Duvalier, contacted by telephone by French television at his hotel in the alpine town of Talloires, also said he was worried by news reports from Haiti on television.

France agreed to give him refuge for up to eight days while he found a permanent country of asylum. . Asked for details of his plans, he said he hoped French officials would ensure his case was dealt with quickly. He has consoled himself in exile surrounded by the trappings of his former

power — guns and good food.

Cloistered in a medieval monastery converted into a luxury hotel, the one-tiime "President For Life” passes his time behind a veil of secrecy probably in much the same way as he did during his 15 years in power in Haiti. Police barricades seal off his picturesque refuge while gun-carrying French guards protect him, his wife, Michele and a 22-member entourage from prying eyes and numerous enemies. The hotel has one of France’s best chefs and staff say that apart from minor disappointment at not being served lobster, Mr Duvalier, aged 34, enjoys a consoling regimen of haute cuisine. A local butcher said he had delivered 50kg of as-

sorted meats: “Nothing else is going well for him — he is at least eating well.” A brief glance out the window of his luxury suite would offer the once allpowerful President a chilling reminder of how far he has come since fleeing his gleaming white palace in Port-au-Prince.

Instead of the familiar sun-bleached vistas of his Carribbean nation, the view offers snow-covered mountains obscured by mist and an icy alpine lake.

Most hotels and houses ringing the lake have been boarded up, with only journalists, curiosity seekers and a brief protest by a handful of banner-carrying demonstrators to break the eerie quiet of the off-season.

Even the usual animation of winter duck-hunt-

ing is missing, the hunters having been warned by the police not to stray near the hotel with their shotguns. Hotel staff said they had been given strong warnings by French coun-ter-espionage agents not to discuss what they saw of Mr Duvalier and his entourage.

“There were a few leaks yesterday and we got in terrible trouble,” said one kitchen boy.

The French Prime Minister, Mr Laurent Fabius, said Mr Duvalier would be allowed to stay only a few days, saying the decision was necessary to avoid a bloodbath in Haiti. Efforts to find him a permanent refuge have so far drawn a blank, with Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Gabon, Cameroon and Morocco all ruling out asylum.