FORMER HAITIAN PRESIDENT Rene Preval has died, the government of the Caribbean nation said on Friday.
Preval, 74, was the first democratically elected modern-day leader of Haiti to serve his full term. In 2012, during his second term as president, Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake.
Current President Jovenel Moise said on Twitter that he was saddened to learn of the death of Preval, who he described as a “dignified son of Haiti.”
During his 1996-2001 presidency, Preval managed to build roads and public squares, worked with peasants on land reform, and unlike many of his predecessors was not accused of massive human rights violations, despotism or theft.
His second terms will be remembered more than anything for the earthquake that destroyed much of the capital Port-au-Prince, killing some 200 000 people. Preval’s government was criticised for its response to the disaster.
Born in the rural town of Marmelade in 1943, Preval trained as an agronomist before a career in politics that allied him with former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was deposed in a bloody 2004 revolt. (Reuters)