Who is Rene Preval?

Answer 1

Rene Preval is the Haitian President...

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René Préval, son of agronomist Claude Préval and of Céline Talleyrand, was born in Port-au-Prince on January 17, 1943. Following in his father's footsteps, he studied agronomy in Belgium at Gembloux and Louvain Universities. He has two daughters; Dominique and Patricia.

Upon his return in Haiti in 1975, Mr. Préval joined the Ministry of Mining and Energy, and he later received a scholarship to study geothermal science at the University of Pisa, Italy.

In 1988 he starts a bakery business in downtown Port-au-Prince. Due to its modern machinery, the bakery is a rapid success; which he also uses to develop strong relationships with grassroots movements and neighborhood associations (eg. free bread distribution to the poor).

From 1976 to 1990, René Préval is engaged in the struggle for democratic rule in Haiti and the end of the Duvalier Dictatorship. He is a founding member of the group Honneur et Respect pour la Constitution de 1987 (Honor & Respect for the 1987 Constitution), and presides over the Pa Bliye Committee, collecting information on the disappearance of opponents during the Duvialier regime.

On February 13, 1991 René Préval was appointed Prime Minister and Minister of Defense by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, winner in December 1990 of the first free elections in Haiti since 1804. This new democratic rule was abruptly halted in September 1991 by a military coup that forced Préval to first seek refuge in various embassies in Port-au-Prince, then in Washington D.C. until October 1994.

Upon the restoration of constitutional rule in October 1994, René Préval became General Director of the Social Investment Fund--funded by the World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank.

In December 1995, Mr. Préval is elected President of the Republic of Haiti for 5 years and is sworn into office on February 7, 1996. During his first term in office he launched a vast program of economic and institutional reforms, including the modernization of public enterprises, the reform of the financial sector, and the first agrarian reform. He also initiated a number of infrastructure development projects, such as road and school rehabilitations.

In February 2001, at the end of his presidency, René Préval retired to his hometown of Marmelade to participate in local development projects. For the next five years he sought financing and development assistance to implement programs in agriculture and agro-industry with high-value production (gourmet coffee, bamboo, citrus and citrus juice), micro-credit for farmers, protection of the environment, watershed management, health and sanitation, feeder-roads rehabilitation and civic improvement; not to forget the opening of a music school and internet communication center.

Convinced by the LESPWA movement -- Hope in English -- to again seek the presidency in 2005, René Préval won the first round of the elections of February 7, 2006, and was sworn in on May 14, 2006 as the 55th President of the republic of Haiti. He formed a coalition cabinet to preserve a fragile political stability and strove to restore security in the streets of the capital city following several months of negotiations and confrontations with the violent gangs that had plagued the city. He led the government in the implementation of a broad Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, including large infrastructure works and energy sector development.