1972, late July – December: (The Fall of Cambronne: Lafontant Convinces Jean-Claude of Disloyalty While Simone Is in Miami, Cambronne Flees to the Colombian …

1972, late July – December: (The Fall of Cambronne: Lafontant Convinces Jean-Claude of Disloyalty While Simone Is in Miami, Cambronne Flees to the Colombian Embassy, L’Inspiratrice Returns Too Late, Hemo Caribbean Closes, and the Divorce Law Modified — Duvalier Speaks of Morality in Government): Portents of change were everywhere, and irony of ironies, nearly all the change was being brought about by Duvalier’s alliance with those very forces his father had sought to neutralize — the army and the elite. Predictably, exemplifying the Chinese maxim that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, the high-flying Premier who had engineered the Dominiques’ exile was about to have the tables turned on him. The agent of change was Roger Lafontant, an early devotee of Papa Doc whose willingness to traduce his fellow student strikers in 1961 had earned him a place in the Duvalier hierarchy. While Simone Duvalier was in Miami visiting her third daughter, Lafontant managed to convince Jean-Claude that Cambronne was guilty of disloyalty. Suddenly denied access to the Palais, Cambronne — no stranger to such maneuvers — deduced what was afoot and sought refuge in the Colombian embassy; in the time-honored manner, a few days later he found himself in Bogotá. L’Inspiratrice, returning quickly from Miami after word reached her, was too late to undo the damage done by Lafontant. Somewhat truculently, the president turned a deaf ear to his mother’s pleas to soften his views — in reality, he had already begun to outgrow the constricted role that the elder Duvalierist noirs had designed for him. Ever a realist, Simone Duvalier set about putting the best face on things, and the outside world was informed of a cabinet change resulting from Duvalier’s alleged distaste for some of Cambronne’s business activities, particularly plasma farming. Hemo Caribbean closed its doors, while the divorce law was modified so that both parties had to be represented; as further evidence of new-found probity, it was announced that all revenues from quickie divorces would henceforth go into official accounts — a backhanded acknowledgment that such revenues had previously been funneled straight into Cambronne’s pockets. A number of Cambronne acolytes, including Fritz Cinéas the former 1957 bomb-maker turned Secretary of State for Information, followed their master into exile — though unlike Papa Doc’s days, these periods of exile were short, providing time for reflection after which the offender was allowed without fanfare to return home. Duvalier, donning his inherited mantle of Spiritual Leader of the Nation, spoke feelingly of the need for morality in government. As the nation approached its second Christmas without Papa Doc, more political prisoners were either released or had their sentences shortened, and a newfound license appeared in the press and on the airwaves — criticism of local problems, which once guaranteed a visit from the TTMs and the smashing of one’s presses or transmitter, was now allowed, provided always that it was couched ever so carefully.