Rene – Kalepwa Magazine

Former Haiti President Rene Preval Dead At 74. His Life in Photos.

K St. Fort — Sat, 13 Apr 2019 09:02:20 +0000

Former Haiti President Rene Preval Dead At 74. His Life In Pictures.

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Miami Herald reporter Jacqueline Charles revealed that Rene Preval—one of Haiti’s former presidents—has died. He was 74. According to various news reports, he suffered from a heart attack. He also had prostate cancer and had been treated for it in the early 2000s in Cuba.

With former president Barack Obama. [Photo Credit: W. McNamee]

Mr. Preval married three times, and was a graduate of the University of Pisa. He was president from 1996 to 2001, according to Reuters. His served his second term in the 2000s, and he was the head of state in power when Haiti was hit by an earthquake in the early 2010s.

With former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. [Photo Credit: C. Somodevilla]

The former president studied agronomy in Belgium at the prestigious Gembloux Agricultural University. He lived in New York for a time, and later moved to Haiti to opened his own business, a bakery. CBS News is reporting that he is survived by two daughters.

Here is Mr. Preval in January 2010, attending the funeral of an archbishop in Port-au-Prince. Photo Credit: Getty

Funeral For Former Haitian President Rene Preval Set For This Saturday

K St. Fort — Sat, 13 Apr 2019 08:42:00 +0000

Earlier this month, Rene Preval, one of Haiti’s former presidents passed away. Haiti immediately declared a six-day mourning period that would start on March 5th and end on March 11. According to details that have been revealed to the media, the former head of state’s funeral will officially begin on Friday, March 10. This will include a funeral ceremony at Haiti’s national museum MUPANAH and a presentation of Haiti’s National Police Corps.

Towards the early afternoon, there will be a viewing for the deceased’s close friends, family and colleagues, including his wife Elizabeth Delatour Preval.

Haiti’s Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant and Haiti’s president Jovenel Moise and Haiti’s First Lady Martine Moise are also set to make an appearance.

On Saturday, the actual day of the funeral, an orchestra from Mr. Preval’s hometown Marmelade will contribute a musical composition, in addition to compositions by Chopin. Moreover, representatives from several organizations based in Haiti will pay tribute. The funeral procession will then go on to Marmelade, a province miles away from Port-au-Prince, where the former president will be buried.

According to news reports,former President Rene Preval served a total of two terms. He studied agronomy and prior to being president, he was an entrepreneur and an agronomist.

[Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla and John Moore]

Former Haitian Leader Rene Preval Being Buried Today

K St. Fort — Sat, 13 Apr 2019 08:31:52 +0000

Haiti declared a state of nation of mourning for one-time leader Rene Preval, who is being buried today in his hometown Marmelade, a small town miles away from Haiti’s capital. Preval served an initial term in 1996 in the Caribbean nation, and served a second term in the 2000s. According to news reports, he is survived by two daughters and his widow Elizabeth Preval. The one-time leader of Haiti studied agricultural science at a university in Belgium, and also had a stint at the University of Pisa, Italy.

Haiti’s current president Jovenel Moise and the First Lady of Haiti Martine Moise are expected at his funeral this morning, as well as a host of officials. Michaelle Jean, the former Governor General of Canada, is set to pay tribute.

According to information that has been released in the media, the former head of state’s funeral will start in Port-au-Prince, and a procession will travel to his hometown. The body was displayed for public viewing the day before. Today, several representatives from various organizations will pay their respect. Haiti’s national police force will march during the funeral procession, and a musical orchestra from the former president’s hometown is expected to perform.

Haiti former leader Preval was 74. Various news outlets indicate that in the early 2000s he was treated for prostrate cancer. Most news outlets have yet to reveal his cause of death. Miami Herald reporter Jacqueline Charles who interviewed some of his friends indicated that it may have been due to heart-related issues. Results of an autopsy are pending.

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Haitian Book Club: Massacre River by René Philoctète

K St. Fort — Sat, 13 Apr 2019 04:38:42 +0000

Dear lovers of books by Haitian authors and books about Haiti…

Today’s Haitian Book Club selection is Massacre River by René Philoctète (New Directions, 238pp, $13.95), a translation of Le Pays des Peuples mêlées (The Country of People of Mixed Blood), by Linda Coverdale.

If you’ve heard of Massacre River, you know it is right between the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and you probably are aware of the 1937 slaughter of Haitian sugar cane field workers in the Dominican Republic. And it probably won’t come as a surprise that the plot of the novel Massacre River treats that event.

Philoctète’s book is laced with so much lyricism, you wonder at times if you’re not reading a cluster of poems. A sample: “With an angry hand, Pedro Brito decapitates a flower whose name he does not know. A bitter perfume clings to his fingers. He dips his hand in the dew. The scent stays bitter and strong. Like the presence of the beast, or the servants of savagery.”

This flower-destroying Pedro Alvarez Brito is a sugar factory worker and the husband of Adèle Benjamin, a native of the Haitian town Belladère. Adèle is part of a generation of Haitians who are born in Haiti and who sometimes are buried in Dominican Republic territory. Pedro is born on the side of the border where there’s little distinction between Haitian and Dominican, so strong are their family ties.

Jacques Stephen Alexis’ book General Sun, My Brother treats the same subject as Philoctète, but apparently the books have different philosophies. The conclusion that one attained from reading the Alexis book is that there is no place like home, though elsewhere may have greener pastures. Through the relationship of Adèle and Pedro, Philoctète offers this concept of compromise and unity of two lands. Another aspect of Massacre River is the fictionalized glimpse into the inner workings of General Trujillo, the Dominican president who orders the massacre.

A border thrown into turmoil by color prejudices, the love between a Dominican and a Haitian, makes Massacre River not just a historical account of a devastating event, but an unforgettable, well-written love story.

Novel By Rene Depestre Hadriana In All My Dreams Available in English

K St. Fort — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 05:12:00 +0000

Akashaic Books, an independent publisher based in New York has released Hadriana In My Dreams, a book originally published last century by Haiti-born poet and writer Rene Depestre in English. The English translation was done by Kaiama L. Glover, the same lit guru behind several translations of Haiti’s classic authors, including Dance on the Volcano from Marie Vieux Chauvet.

Depestre is one of Haiti’s most acclaimed authors. Born in Jacmel in the mid-1920s, he went into an exile in France in the 1940s. His novel centers upon a bride Hadriana Siloé who goes into a coma on her wedding day, and reawakens as a zombie.

Hadriana In My Dreams is the English translation of Hadriana dans tous mes rêves. According to the book website Babelio, Depestre’s novel won the prestigious Prix Renaudo and was nominated for the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens, a literary prize given in France.

This has been a special edition of the Haitian-American Book Club brought to you by your favorite chick Kreyolicious.

[Author Photo Credit: Jacques Sassier]

CLICK HERE to purchase the novel.