Port-au-Prince, Haiti – President Rene Preval pleaded with Haitians to bring peace to the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country as he was inaugurated Sunday during a ceremony that drew thousands to the National Palace and marked the return of democratic rule in Haiti.
Crowds sang “Preval, Preval, we’ve been waiting for you” at each stop in the four- hour event, which his supporters hope will set Haiti on a new course two years after the violent ouster of Jean- Bertrand Aristide.
Signs of the chaotic situation inherited by Preval, a soft-spoken agronomist who once owned a bakery in Port-au-Prince, were everywhere. As he prepared to be inaugurated, inmates protested at a central Port-au-Prince jail known for holding political prisoners, occupying a rooftop and chanting, “We want justice.” The power briefly went out during a Mass that Preval attended as part of the ceremony.
Later, at the National Palace, a crowd of invited guests and passers-by overwhelmed security guards, pushing past metal detectors. They arrived after traversing streets guarded by heavily armed U.N. soldiers and tanks.
Known for his brevity, Preval spoke for less than 10 minutes, prescribing a one-word solution for a nation plagued by political turmoil: “peace.”
“The answer is simple; the answer is clear: We have to build peace,” Preval said, drawing cheers. “If we don’t talk to each other, we’re going to fight each other.”
Preval, 63, who served as Haiti’s president from 1996 to 2001, took his second oath of office after being draped with a red and blue sash at the national parliament building. In a symbolically charged moment, he left the building at the side of outgoing President Boniface Alexander, who headed the U.S.-backed interim government put in place after Aristide fled.
Preval faces huge challenges trying to bring order to a fractured nation. Between 40 percent and 65 percent of children do not attend school, as much as 5 percent of the people are infected with HIV, and criminal gangs control many of the slums and ports.
Preval stressed that Haitians would have to accept responsibility for turning around the nation.
“Please help me help the country help itself,” he told the crowd.
