Préval, René (1943- )

Haitian liberal politician, president 1996-2001 and from 2006. A protégé of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, he was appointed prime minister in 1991. He succeeded Aristide as president in the first peaceful handover of power to an elected president since the country's independence in 1804, attracting 87% of the electoral vote. He implemented an IMF-approved structural adjustment programme, but faced opposition from within the Haitian congress.

Préval was born in Port-au-Prince and became an outspoken advocate for democracy. His opposition to the dictatorial Duvalier regimes 1956-86 forced him into ten years of exile in the USA. When Jean-Claude Duvalier was overthrown in 1986, Préval returned as a founding member of the Group for the Defence of the Constitution. He was chair of the committee (‘Pa Blie’) responsible for investigating the disappearance of persons during the Duvalier regime.