François Duvalier, Haiti and the Republic of Biafra

The vocation of the first independent Negro Republic in the world to secure everywhere the defence of the prestige and dignity of our race, its conditions of an extra-continental state added to the fact that it does not seek any personal advantage, put Haiti in a privileged position to cause the voice of right, wisdom and equity to he heard. My long experience of office – for twelve years I have been presiding over the destinies of the Republic – taught me that it is labouring under a delusion when dealing with situations taking on such a tragic cast to rely on international organisations and still less on some foreign powers that take unfair advantage of our divisions and harbour no sincere wish of a return to peace in Nigeria.

My political philosophy and the struggle which I am firmly carrying on in Haiti, in the basin of the Antilles and on the large international stage against Marxism-Leninism cause me to consider with apprehension the ever-increasing influence of communism in Nigeria. The planes, weapons and experts of Soviet Russia are playing a paramount role in the conflict. In fact, that great European power is eager to transform Nigeria into a satellite country and make sure of an operational base in the very heart of Africa, a new stage of its dream of world domination- a dream that dates back to Peter the Great and Catherine II.

The profound and generalised resentment of Nigeria against Biafra together with the will of domination of some nations jeopardise the future of Biafrans and threaten to destroy the glorious Ibo tribes, descendants of those men who contributed to the founding of the Haitian homeland.

From the point of view of international law as such, and account being taken of such norms as are generally agreed upon, I am of the opinion that Biafra fulfils the essential conditions to constitute a nation, namely: a material element, the territory and more especially, a human element: the population. The said human element is united by race, religion, language, history, a set of laws. It is, furthermore, consolidated by the moral unity and the common will of Biafrans to group themselves under one banner. This general resolve adding to the community of origin and interest: The nation Biafra does exist, and, therefore, it is for her a scared duty to organise herself as a free and sovereign state.

Statement of Dr. Francois Duvalier, President of Haiti, on the Recognition of Biafra as a Sovereign State (22 March 1969)