27833: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti president gets new chance to prove mettle (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Given Haiti's history of
dictatorship, violence and perpetual political chaos, it could be seen as
high praise that Rene Preval's first term as president was relatively
peaceful.
     Preval was declared the country's next president on Thursday after a
deal was reached over charges of vote fraud. The deal gives Preval 50.9
percent of the vote and averts a runoff.
     During his 1996-2001 presidency, Preval, 63, managed to build some
roads and public squares, worked with peasants on land reform, and was not
accused of massive human rights violations, despotism or theft.
     He is the only leader in Haiti's 202-year history to win a democratic
election, serve a full term and peacefully hand power to a successor.
     But that first term was marred by a political crisis that damaged his
administration's credibility, paralyzed the government and alienated
international donors.
     Preval is also seen as close to former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, who was deposed in a bloody 2004 revolt. Preval was the
hand-picked successor to the fiery former Roman Catholic priest and was
viewed in some quarters as a puppet, patiently holding the presidency for
his mentor.
     Supporters in Aristide's slum strongholds adopted Preval as their
candidate. "Preval and Aristide are twins!" they shouted at election
rallies.
     The wealthy elite who campaigned to send Aristide packing turned their
hostility on Preval, fearing his victory would lead the way for the return
of Aristide, accused of corruption and despotism.
     Preval has distanced himself from his one-time ally but not by much.
He referred to Haiti's first freely elected leader as "President Aristide"
in a recent interview and has said there is nothing to stop him from
returning from South Africa.
     An agronomist, Preval is credited with ending a battle between
peasants and the "grand dons," powerful landholders in Haiti's northern
Artibonite farming region. He gave poor farmers government land the
landholders said they owned.
     He helped introduce Haitian Bleu, a high-end coffee grown near Jacmel
in the south, creating a new industry.
     "While in office, Preval was not as bad a head of state as others
Haiti has had," said Jean-Germain Gros, a Haiti analyst at the University
of Missouri. "He does have a record of some accomplishment, which is
important."
     In a country terrorized by a brutal, now disbanded, army and the
dreaded Tontons Macoute -- the Duvalier family dictatorship's thugs --
Preval's presidency was notably free of widespread accusations of murder
and corruption.
     During his tenure, Haiti was without a prime minister for 21 months
and his administration failed to hold elections for 18 Senate seats,
crippling the legislature.
     Preval was also accused of startling insensitivity when in 2000, he
said Haiti's economic situation was dire and advised Haitians to "swim to
get out."
     The phrase seeped into the lexicon of a nation where tens of thousands
of people have boarded rickety boats for a dangerous journey to the United
States. Many die at sea.
     When he handed the National Palace back to Aristide in 2001, Preval
retreated to his hometown of Marmelade, where he continued a program to
grow bamboo used in art and furniture.
     A low-key campaigner, Preval said in an interview with Reuters
television that he wants to decentralize government, strengthen the
judiciary and police, and achieve the "great dream" of primary education
for all.
     "Five years will not be enough to finish the work," he said.





 REUTERS