27538: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Candidate's Hometown (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER

   MARMELADE, Haiti, Feb 7 (AP) -- Hours before dawn, people had already
started walking the winding, pitted roads of this small mountain town,
eager to vote Tuesday in Haiti's first elections in nearly six years.
   In Marmelade, a town of 12,000 named for the orange-flavored jam that is
still made here, many people also had another incentive: They wanted to
support Rene Preval, the former president and front-running candidate who
is also the hometown hero.
   "He is our pride," Claudine Jeanjuste said as she lined up to vote for
the man that polls said would lead the field of 33 candidates.
   Preval, an agronomist, spent his youth in Marmelade then returned after
stepping down as president from 1996 to 2001, dividing his time between the
town and the capital, Port-au-Prince.
   He has since sponsored a number of development projects in the town,
where his home has been protected by bodyguards in the days running up to
the election.
   "He hasn't forgotten that he came from here," said Robert Cassine, a
41-year-old farmer.
   Preval, the only president in Haitian history to complete his term and
then voluntarily leave office, has pledged to raise living standards in the
poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. "We will not be able to do
everything right away," he said this week. "But we are determined to do our
best."
   It is a message that resonates even in Marmelade, which by Haitian
standards is a tidy and orderly town, where women sweep the streets in
front of their houses at dawn.
   At the Marmelade National School, the crowd of more than 1,600 began to
buzz with excitement when word spread that Preval was on his way to vote.
   Across the road on a rooftop, 30 or 40 people had gathered for a glimpse
of the candidate.
   Soon, the candidate emerged walking along the street to cheers from the
crowd. "Rene, Rene" some yelled as a smiling Preval waved and shook hands
with onlookers.
   The people of Marmelade, Cassine said, expect much of the candidate. "He
will take care of his people and treat Haiti like he treats us," he said.