AOL News is reporting that former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier has been hospitalized after having chest pains, his longtime companion and associates said Thursday without giving details about his condition. Duvalier, who made a surprise return to the Caribbean nation in January, was admitted Wednesday night, companion Veronique Roy said as she took a break from visiting him at the Canape Vert hospital in Port-au-Prince.
Roy declined to discuss his condition in detail. Asked if it was serious, she replied only, "I hope not."
The 59-year-old former dictator made an abrupt return to Haiti in January after 25 years in exile and appeared at times to move with difficulty, sparking speculation that he was ill. He has been living in a villa in the hills above Port-au-Prince under police guard as a judge investigates whether he can be charged with a long list of crimes, including corruption and torture, committed while he was "president for life" in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Perhaps the stress of returning home, living under a police presence and awaiting the fate of possible charges against him is taking its toll on Baby Doc. His mystery illness reflects the mystery of his return to Haiti. There's something there — it will take some time to figure out just what it is.
Read more at AOL News.
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