1971, April 22: (Surrounded by Hyenas — The Swearing-In: Jean-Claude in Shock and Tranquilized, Simone Duvalier’s Cabinet List, the Boy President’s Inaudible…

1971, April 22: (Surrounded by Hyenas — The Swearing-In: Jean-Claude in Shock and Tranquilized, Simone Duvalier’s Cabinet List, the Boy President’s Inaudible Address to the Assembly, No Pardons and No Tolerance of Communists, and Ambassador Knox’s Press Conference): The photographs published in January 1971 showing an ailing François Duvalier beside his son had given notice to Haiti and the world of what the inner circle already knew — change was imminent. Now that the old man was gone, those left could only make do with what they had. Jean-Claude Duvalier was quickly sworn in on April 22, 1971, in a private ceremony orchestrated by Simone Duvalier, who had in hand the list of those to be named to the cabinet. The new president was in shock, grieving not only for his father but for the loss of what little freedom he had possessed; his already placid temperament had been pushed into stupefaction, abetted by liberal doses of tranquilizers freely administered by palace physicians at Simone Duvalier’s command. He did not accompany his mother and sisters in the funeral cortège. After a day’s rest, Duvalier fils met the assembled foreign press corps, introduced by Cambronne’s right-hand man Fritz Cinéas, newly designated Minister of Information — after reading a statement in French expressing hope that objectivity would characterize their reporting, the boy president shook hands and disappeared through the side door into what was now his office. Constituencies more vital than the press were not overlooked as Duvalier visited police, army, and macoute posts throughout the city; with Constant’s fate in mind, those visited were not restrained in declarations of fealty. The next hurdle was an address to the National Assembly on Thursday, gathered dutifully by Ulrick Saint-Louis to hear his program. Hopes ran high for political amnesty. After attending a memorial mass at Notre Dame, he was driven through large cheering crowds to the Assembly Building, where Duvalier spoke in a voice so low it could not be heard in parts of the chamber — a device his father had employed to compound confusion. No pardons, no tolerance of communists or troublemakers was to be permitted; the United States would always find Haiti on its side against communism, he said — music to Richard Nixon’s Washington and helpful to an American ambassador already dubbed an honorary macoute. Ambassador Knox, more experienced at giving press conferences than Duvalier, opened the week with one of his own, suggesting that Haiti was ripe for aid beyond the humanitarian diet to which it had been limited since the falling-out with President Kennedy.