Under Preval Haiti enjoys fragile stability

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By Carol J. Williams - PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Shoeless boys with angry eyes and empty stomachs no longer loiter outside the green iron gates of the National Palace.

The odd jobs of oppression have disappeared.

In the atmosphere of peace, there are no more orders to bash heads or crush dissent that once earned the ragtag enforcers a plate of rice and beans or a tube of glue to sniff.

Fourteen months into his second tenure as president, Rene Preval has broken ranks with two centuries of despots and demagogues.

He has eschewed the politics of brutality and confrontation, quietly achieving what only a year ago seemed unimaginable: fragile unity among this country's fractious classes.

Allies and adversaries alike credit the reclusive president with creating a breathing space for addressing the poverty and environmental devastation that have made Haiti the most wretched place in the Western Hemisphere.

Preval has taken small steps to crack down on crime and corruption and to improve Haiti's infrastructure and food supply.

But he holds to the strategy he used in defeating more than 30 rivals in the election last year: Make no promises, raise no expectations.

Observers say Preval's low-key approach might be what Haiti has needed, but they worry what will happen if his shaky health takes a turn for the worse or if the country's 8 million people start to lose patience with his go-slow approach.

read more at baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-t...

The Observer, July 29 2007, 9:51 PM

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