Haiti Renewed: Political and Economic Prospects

The election of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1990, his American-supported restoration to office in 1994, and the peaceful election in 1995 of President Rene Preval were harbingers of a radically new and promising era in Haitian political and economic life. With a five-year presidency, Preval now has the opportunity to reconstruct and remold the Haitian state, to raise Haitian living standards, and to create a new political culture of democracy and tolerance. The future of his country and the success of Haiti's last best chance to break its chains of poverty, desperation, and deprivation depend on the choices that he and his colleagues make in the months ahead. This book provides an agenda for Preval and his successors, one that examines Haiti's political culture - its historical legacy and what that means for future reconstruction - and many of its most critical political, economic, and social challenges.