As the minutes ticked away, the knot of American diplomats waiting on the darkened runway of Francois Duvalier international airport grew increasingly edgy. They had been keeping a tense vigil since 1 a.m., waiting for Haiti's President-for-Life Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier. A day earlier, Duvalier had sent an urgent message to the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, the capital. It implored the Americans to help him and his family flee the country that, after 28 years, was no longer under their control. Now Duvalier was two hours late. The Americans at the airport wondered if he had changed his mind or if the furtive escape plan had been foiled by the mounting opposition to his regime. Early-rising Haitians in the area would surely spot the immense U.S. C-141 Starlifter cargo plane that had flown from the Charleston, S.C., Air Force base and was sitting on the runway at Port-au-Prince.
At 3:30 a.m. headlights pierced the darkness. A silver BMW with Duvalier behind the wheel approached the runway. Beside him sat his dazzling wife Michele. Later, the couple unapologetically explained their tardiness: they had decided at the last minute to throw a midnight champagne party at the presidential palace to bid farewell to their closest friends.
Duvalier moved toward the military aircraft, pausing to bestow a few words of thanks on the row of elite khaki-uniformed guards who had protected him in the final months of his presidency. Nearby, two grim-faced men, one in military uniform, one in civilian dress, observed the Duvaliers' departure. They were members of the five-man junta to which the abdicating President was passing the leadership of the country. The Air Force plane took off at 3:46 a.m., carrying Duvalier, now an ex-President-for-Life, out of Haiti for only the second time. With him were his wife, his mother Simone, 72, four children and 17 others, headed for France and, presumably, on to an existence of pampered exile. As dawn broke over Haiti, an era of darkness had finally ended.
Duvalier's secret departure set off a wave of explosive emotion when it was announced on nationwide radio and television less than four hours later. In a self-serving recorded message, he told his countrymen, "I wish to go down in history with my head held high and with a clean conscience. Therefore, I have decided to trust the destiny of the nation to the power of the armed forces of Haiti. I pray God protects this nation." To many of Haiti's 6 million mostly impoverished people, Duvalier's departure was the answer to their prayers.
The head of the newly appointed National Council of Government was Lieut. General Henri Namphy, 53, the commander of Duvalier's armed forces. In a five- minute television appearance, Namphy affirmed that the council would make "a commitment to human rights" but set no timetable for new elections. The other military members of the junta: Colonels Max Valles and William Regala, who held key positions in the Duvalier regime. The civilians: Minister of Public Works Alix Cineas and Gerard Gourgue, a founding member of the anti- Duvalier Haitian Human Rights League. The council named Colonel Prosper Avril, a former presidential aide-de-camp, as its counselor. Hoping to return the country to order, the new rulers imposed a 2 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and appealed for calm.