ABSTRACT
René intended a dictatorship from the outset. This meant his democratic opposition needed to be dissolved quickly as an organisation and discouraged as individuals. Disabling the SDP therefore was an immediate priority after 5 June. René invited SDP ministers and staff abroad to return and accept the situation created by the coup. Accepting the situation was to involve conceding a profound level of political impotence. The only minister to return permanently was the grand blanc Robert Georges Délorié, Mancham's minister without portfolio. Délorié is overlooked in Mancham's account of the coup though he was in London at the time. Délorié took the position of being resigned to events and returning home, although first dispatching his nephew to see René to gain assurances. Some lesser fry returned. Most notable was Gérard Hoarau, who was in London with Mancham as a member of his staff and who returned to become chief migration officer before his speedy disillusionment with the hope of reconciliation.
