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29677: Hermantin(News)Leader's health worries Haitians (fwd)
From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>
Leader's health worries Haitians
South Florida residents fear for homeland
By Alva James-Johnson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted December 16 2006
Rumors that Haitian President René Préval was dead spread swiftly throughout
South Florida's Haitian-American community recently, threatening hope for the
impoverished country's future.
Préval proved the reports false when he appeared on Haitian television Sunday.
But his announcement that his prostate cancer may have returned worries
Haitians in South Florida, who fear their fragile homeland could spiral out of
control if the president's poor health forces him to step down.
LocalLinks
"It will be turmoil in the country and we don't know where it will end," said
Dr. Gregoire Eugene Jr., an Oakland Park physician, who considered running for
president.
Préval, 63, said tests in Havana showed possible signs of cancer, but the
results were inconclusive. He plans to return to Cuba on Dec. 26 for more tests
and treatment.
Haitians elected Préval in February. His administration replaced an interim
government installed after a bloody rebellion that resulted in the ouster of
former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who remains exiled in South Africa.
A former Aristide protege, Préval also served as the country's president from
1996 to 2001. He received his initial cancer diagnosis the last year of his
first term.
West Palm Beach businessman Yves Laurent, 48, said he heard the reports of
Préval's death Sunday and brushed them off.
"That's how Haiti works. You can say you're sick and they say you died,
especially if you're president or have a big function in the government," he
said.
But Laurent and other Haitian-Americans worry another bout with cancer could
hinder the president's ability to hold together a delicate coalition
government, made up of moderates in the Lavalas political party and those who
want Aristide to return to power.
"He's probably the main guy right now holding the two groups together, and
other people might instigate the violence a little bit," Laurent said.
The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a Catholic priest released from a Haitian prison
for cancer treatment in South Florida almost a year ago, said he met with
Préval in June when the president visited Miami for a Haiti Tourism Development
Summit.
"He told me he felt OK," said Jean-Juste, an Aristide ally who now lives in
Fort Lauderdale. "He encouraged me and said, `If I can make it, you'll make it
too.' "
Gerard Ferere, who supported the interim government led by Boca Raton retiree
Gerard Latortue, said he suspects the anxiety over Préval's health is being
fanned by his opponents.
"I think the whole thing is over-exaggerated," said Ferere, who also lives in
Boca Raton. "I think the news of the bad or poor health of President Préval is
not as bad as the politicians who want to replace him want them to sound."
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