René Préval

René Garcia Préval (born 17 January 1943 officially in Port -au -Prince, according to other data in jam) is a Haitian politician. He was 7 February 1996 to 7 February 2001, was again on May 14, 2006 to May 14, 2011 President of his country.

Family

His father was in the 50's agriculture minister in the government of General Paul Magloire, is an agricultural scientist and landowner in the town of jam, the ancestral home of the family in the department of Artibonite. René Préval studied agricultural economics at the Agricultural University of Gembloux in Belgium. In 1963 he was forced by his family to leave Haiti under the then dictator François Duvalier. After five years in Brooklyn, New York, he returned in 1975 to Haiti and obtained a post at the National Institute of Natural Resources and later received a one-year scholarship to study at Pisa in Italy geothermal energy. The study he finished 1978. 1988 he opened a wholesale bakery in Port -au -Prince.

Rene Preval married 6 December 2009 Elisabeth Delatour the industrialist 's daughter ( Culligan Water, Haiti) and widow of Leslie Delatour, the former World Bank economist, President of the Central Bank and Finance Minister of Haiti. Together with the former Finance Minister Leslie Delatour had three children. Preval's first marriage with Guerda Benoit remained childless and of the second marriage with Solange Lafontant had two children.

Political career

René Préval was a fellow of the then president Jean -Bertrand Aristide. From February 13 to October 11, 1991, Préval Premier, Interior, and Defense Minister of Haiti. He had, however, after the bloody military coup of 30 September 1991 - led by General Raoul Cedras - leave the country with Aristide. Préval fled to Washington.. , Where he remained until October 1994 to restore a constitutional government, René Préval was - after Aristide was on 15 October 1994 ( on September 18, 1994 20,000 Marines landed on the island) again came through the intervention of the United States under Bill Clinton President of Haiti - appointed director of the Fond d' économique et sociale assistance ( FAES ), an authority that has been funded with loan of USD 20 million from the World Bank and the Inter-American development Bank ( BID).

First term of office 1996-2001

On December 17, 1995, Rene Preval, was charged with 88 % of the votes - elected at an extremely low turnout of 28% and sworn in on 7 February 1996 for five years as president. He became the second democratically elected head of state in the nearly 200 -year history of Haiti. Préval became the first president of Haiti, who leaves his post at the end of his term in office on 7 February 2001. As president, he pushed through a series of reforms, including privatization of numerous state-owned enterprises. Some say this was done under pressure from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The high unemployment rate fell towards the end of Préval tenure to its lowest level since Duvalier's resignation. This trend continued during the following term of President Aristide to the coup of 2004.

Second term of office since 2006

Préval joined as an independent presidential candidate in the 2006 elections and to lay by polls ahead. During his election campaign he tried to distance himself from the Fanmi Lavalas party. Preval supports the occupation of Haiti by UN troops, as opposed to Aristide and Lavalas many members who accused the UN troops to carry out a campaign of repression and violence under pressure from the U.S., France and Canada. The choice was very controversial and marked by fraud allegations, it was until February 17, not clear whether - would get the majority of 50 % of the vote Préval or whether a ballot should be recognized - with a turnout of about 63 %. Ultimately, he was declared by the Electoral Commission with 51.15 % of votes for election winner.

On 14 May 2006 on René Préval took from his predecessor, Boniface Alexandre, the Office of the President, and on 17 May 2006, he nominated Jacques-Édouard Alexis as his prime minister.

By repeated riots in Haiti, which had been caused by excessive food prices, Alexis had to resign from his position as Prime Minister on April 12, 2008. The Senate, the second chamber of parliament, the entire government of Haiti released under Alexis.

Given the food riots, the World Bank to an emergency aid of U.S. $ 10 million (approximately EUR 6.3 million ).

End of April 2008 Ericq Pierre was nominated by President René Préval, the new prime minister, the nomination was not confirmed by the chambers of Congress. End of July 2008 was confirmed as the third nominee Michèle Pierre -Louis from both chambers. On 5 September, when the composition of her cabinet and her government program were approved, they could succeed Alexis '. However, the Prime Minister Michèle Pierre -Louis was overthrown by the Senate and replaced by Jean -Max Bellerive On October 30, 2009.

René Préval is facing the moderate Left Party Lespwa ( "Hope" ), was the most powerful force in the last parliamentary elections.

As scheduled presidential elections in 2010 were again provided to those Preval, however, could no longer compete.

In Haiti, on 12 January 2010 a devastating earthquake struck.

" The Palace of Justice is collapsed, the National Palace collapsed, Parliament has collapsed, and the ministries also "

Several senators were killed. With the presidential palace and the state institutions are in ruins.