HAITI declared Rene Preval, a one-time ally of ousted leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the country's next president today after reaching a deal on vote fraud claims that averted a feared outbreak of violence. Mr Preval, a former president opposed by the same wealthy elite who helped drive Aristide from power two years ago but passionately supported by the Caribbean country's poor, claimed "massive fraud" in the February 7 election had deprived him of a first-round victory in one of the world's poorest countries.
"We have won. Now we are going to fight for parliament," Mr Preval told the Haitian Press Agency. After that, he secluded himself in his sister's hilltop house outside Port-au-Prince and aides said he was unlikely to make any further comment. |