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Rene Preval, 63, won a February election largely because
he is seen, like ousted former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, as a champion of the poor. His most vociferous
opponents were the impoverished nation's business and
light-skinned upper classes.
He spent the first few hours in office on Sunday
among diplomats and the wealthy, however, while the
masses huddled in sweltering heat behind a fence
surrounding the ramshackle capital's ornate presidential
palace.
The crowd jammed into Port-au-Prince's central plaza
grew angry when told they would not be allowed to watch
Preval give his inaugural address unless they stood
behind cement barriers erected well away from the palace
gates.
They eventually surged forward anyway, ignoring
orders from the police. Many were pinned by the weight
of the crowd against the palace's gates and wrought iron
fence, only to be pushed back by police in a noisy and
sweat-soaked sea of humanity.
"We voted for Preval, now they are telling us
that we can't see him deliver his inaugural
speech," complained Marline Joinville, 20, one of
the many hoping to get a glimpse of Haiti's first
elected president in more than two years.
While the people were in the streets, she said,
"those who used to kill us, who used to try to
prevent Preval from becoming president, are
inside."
Well-wishers at a party thrown in the gardens of the
palace after Preval's address included former dictator
Prosper Avril and outgoing Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue, who headed an interim government installed
after Aristide fled into exile, facing an armed revolt,
in February 2004.
The interim administration has been accused of human
rights violations against Aristide's -- and now Preval's
-- supporters in the slums.
Preval paid tribute to both Latortue and outgoing
President Boniface Alexandre in his inaugural address,
saying they had organized the election under difficult
circumstances. But Preval himself has said the election
was marred by fraud aimed at preventing him from taking
office, and the crowd jeered and gave a thumbs-down on
hearing his mention of the two.
"Preval should bar those people from leaving the
country and arrest them," said Lesly Cherubin, a
young man wearing a T-shirt with Preval's image
emblazoned across his chest.
"The bourgeoisie wants to hijack the president.
They are all over him, while, we, who elected him, can't
even see him," Cherubin said.
The United States, a powerful foreign player in Haiti
that was accused of undermining Aristide, has welcomed
Preval's election and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the U.S.
president's younger brother, attended Sunday's
inauguration.
U.S. officials have warned Preval not to bring
Aristide back from exile, but demands for just that rang
out outside the palace and the Parliament building where
Preval was sworn in.
"Whether they want it or not, Aristide should
come back," chanted the demonstrators outside
Parliament.
The crowd also chanted "long live Preval."
But analysts say that could change if he blocks the
return of Aristide, who is despised by the elite as much
as he is beloved by the masses.
A one-time ally of Aristide, Preval has said there's
nothing to prevent the fiery Roman Catholic priest from
returning from his exile in South Africa.
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