New Haiti Leader Assumes Power

Priest-turned-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide handed the sash of leadership Wednesday to Haiti’s new president, bearded agronomist Rene Garcia Preval, in the nation’s first peaceful, democratic succession since its independence in 1804.

To mark the hand-over, 21 doves were released at the Presidential Palace in place of the traditional rifle salute, symbolizing what Aristide views as the greatest achievement of his brief but historic term: Disbanding the brutal Haitian army that killed as many as 4,000 of his supporters after ousting him in a 1991 coup seven months into his presidential term.

“After 183 years of history, you’re among the first to witness this tremendous event,” Haiti’s new president declared in his inaugural address. “Five years ago, an appointed president gave the power to an elected one. Today, an elected one gives it to another elected one.

“Such an event is a sign of hope, and it is that hope that has led to today’s celebration. The Haitian people have conquered their destiny.”

The speech and the presentation of the sash were the centerpieces of Wednesday’s daylong inaugural ceremonies for the 53-year-old Preval, a Belgian-educated populist who is an agronomist by profession and who now must lead Haiti from its crushing poverty and lingering political insecurity into the 21st century.

Preval, who ran an economic assistance program funded by the World Bank and who also owned a bakery that still operates with ovens powered by burning sugar cane, devoted much of his speech to Aristide. Preval served as Aristide’s first prime minister, and the two are so close that they have been called “twin brothers.”

Preval, who hid in a foreign embassy for a year after the 1991 coup, was Aristide’s closest political ally once they were together in exile in Washington. And Preval was Aristide’s handpicked choice to run in December’s presidential race, which Preval won with 88% of the vote.

In tribute to the former priest, Preval declared: “This is all due to the faith, the will of one man . . . who has a vision of a new political vista. . . . Mr. President, you’ve spread democracy, and it will grow.”

But crowds were sparse and celebrations subdued throughout the eight hours of inaugural events--a reminder of the apathy shown on Preval’s election day, when more than two-thirds of Haiti’s voters stayed home.

Wednesday’s mood also underscored the challenges ahead for Preval as he takes over a nation with 60% unemployment, deeply rooted poverty reflected in cracked roads and tin roofs, and looming deficits at a time when aid from the United States and other allies is waning.

The events also marked the beginning of the end of the United States’ 16-month military presence in Haiti.

After a yearlong economic blockade isolated but failed to topple Haiti’s military-backed regime, more than 20,000 U.S. troops occupied this Caribbean nation in September 1994 to oust the army. They brought Aristide home the following month.

Beginning this week, Clinton administration aides said, the last 2,500 of those U.S. soldiers--in Haiti under United Nations peacekeeping auspices since March--will start heading home. Preval has asked the United Nations to keep up to 2,000 Canadian and Pakistani peacekeepers in Haiti for six months beyond their March 15 deadline as a security measure, but the Security Council has yet to announce a decision.

In his speech, Preval acknowledged the obstacles ahead: “Our five years will be difficult because we will have two major concerns: political and economic modernization. We’ll also have to consolidate our democracy and reinforce the institutions. . . . To succeed, we must make the population feel secure.”

On that front, at least, there were signs of hope Wednesday in events timed to mark the 10th anniversary of the day that former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier fled Haiti after 29 years of his family’s dictatorship, leaving behind a nation in rebellion and chaos.

There was no violence reported, quelling fears that remnants of the military regime would attempt to disrupt the ceremonies.

The United States and Canada have spent tens of millions of dollars rebuilding and training a 5,000-member police force to replace Haiti’s army and keep order.

But continuing political violence in the slums of the capital has suggested to many analysts that more must be done before major investment capital returns to the economy of the poorest country in the Americas.

“We will attack the insecurity to promote a better atmosphere for investment in the country,” Preval said. “Insecurity is linked with misery.”

The new president also sought to allay the concerns of wary diplomats and conservative analysts who have viewed him as more of a leftist than Aristide. He came out in favor of privatization and free-market reform Wednesday, vowing to modernize agriculture and tourism.

The economic issue is a sensitive one.

Free-market advocate Smarck Michel, prime minister after Aristide was returned to power, resigned in November when Aristide rejected his plan to privatize nine key state industries. Despite Preval’s background as an ardent nationalist, some analysts say his administration may well be bolder on free-market reform than Aristide’s.

The relationship between the two men has been controversial ever since Aristide chose Preval as the candidate of his faction of the Lavalas (Avalanche) Party.

Aristide won praise for keeping his promise to govern only to the end of his five-year term, despite having spent three of those years in exile. But critics initially chided his choice of a “twin” as a way to rule from the sidelines.

In recent weeks, though, rifts have appeared between Preval and Aristide.

At one of Aristide’s last public appearances--the unveiling of a monument to supporters killed by the army--he took a veiled shot at Preval for proposing to cut government costs by shutting down the Women’s Ministry, which Aristide created.

“One cannot saw the branch on which one is seated,” Aristide reminded his successor-elect at an event Preval did not even attend.

But several of those in the crowd Wednesday wore T-shirts suggesting that the man most responsible for liberating Haiti from dictatorship may have another plan in mind.

In large letters, their shirts declared: “Aristide in 2001.”

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Profile: Rene Preval

Background on the new president of Haiti:

* Name: Rene Garcia Preval

* Age: 53

* Background: As a young man, forced into exile with his politically persecuted family; associates say it fueled his political activism; returned to Haiti at age 32; named prime minister in 1991 but term was ended by bloody coup; earned reputation as a good administrator while running a World Bank-financed economic assistance fund.

* Politics: Some diplomats have expressed concern that Preval is more to the left than predecessor Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Source: Reuters