NationStates Jolt Archive

People on every issue seem to have different memories of things that
were in the news.

Once things disappear from the news, little more thought is given.

So this is for everyone?

What do you think you know about Haiti today
is it good or bad there
was a dictator driven out by the people or what do you remember happening?

I believe Haiti is a French speaking country that shares the island of Hispanola with the Dominican Repbulic. Captial - Port au Prince. Majority race - Black. Majority religion - Catholic.

Second European colony in the New World to become independant by it's own hand, after the USA. It happened in a large Slave revolt during the beginnings of the Napoleanic era I believe.

As to recent events, wasn't a guy named Aristide - Haiti's democratically elected leader - overthrown several years ago? The US flew him out, right? I'm not sure what the political situation in Haiti is nowadays, but that's what I remember happening.

He was overthrown sometime a year ago.

I think Haiti should declare war on the Dominicans and takeover the island.

I think Haiti should declare war on the Dominicans and takeover the island.

If my history serves they actually *did* rule all the island up to the 1800's, but the Dominican Republic declared independence in 1844.

So for Haiti it's a been there done that scenario.

I hear a bit more than most people about Haiti because I live in south Florida and it's so close that we can get Haitian radio. There's a huge Haitian population in the next neighborhood west of mine, and about 90% of my brother-in-law's work force are Haitian--all here legally, I might add.

Their opinion is that Haiti is worse off, but not much, mainly because there wasn't far for it to fall, just because Haiti is so poor. Let's put it this way--one of these guys is making about $15 an hour, and he sends about a fifth of his take-home pay back to Haiti, and it takes care of his extended family handsomely. The situation is fucked up like polio over there, and has been for a while, and there aren't any real solutions to the problems short of turning it into a protectorate or something similar, and I'm not even sure that's a good idea.

Basically, I'm saying I'm at a loss here, and that may not be much help, but it's all I've got.

Posted on Wed, Aug. 17, 2005






R E L A T E D C O N T E N T

CARL JUSTE/HERALD STAFF
NATIVE SON: Texas businessman 'Dumas' Simeus, in front of the Texas and U.S. flags, wants to return to his homeland of Haiti -- to be president.
More photos


R E L A T E D L I N K S
• Profile
• Audio | Interview with Simeus



HAITI


CEO seeks new job: the president of Haiti

A Haitian-American businessman who was born in poverty but is a self-made millionaire faces long odds in his campaign for the presidency of Haiti.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@herald.com


The walls of Haitian-American entrepreneur Dumarsais ''Dumas'' Siméus' office bear witness to his success -- proud photos, awards and magazine covers recognizing his $100 million food empire in this rapidly growing city in the Lone Star State.

His humble roots are here, too: a framed photograph of a two-room shack with an aluminum roof in the village of Pont-Sondé, Haiti, where he was born 65 years ago.

Those roots have inspired Siméus, one of the nation's top black businessmen and a member of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's Haiti Task Force, to take on the greatest challenge of his life: seeking the presidency of Haiti.

Siméus, whose first introduction to the United States was as a student at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, plans to declare his candidacy today, standing in front of that childhood home in Haiti. He says he brings more than just love of his country, where his parents still live. He brings the business savvy of a maverick CEO.

Haiti is ''a country of eight million customers that's into bankruptcy. And you need a professional leader, a professional executive to come and get the country out of bankruptcy,'' Siméus said in a recent interview in his second-floor office at Siméus Foods International, a food manufacturing company whose customers include Denny's, T.G.I. Friday's and Burger King.

WORLDS APART

Critics say the world in which Siméus has succeeded is very different from the one he wants to take over.

''It's impossible for someone from the diaspora to maneuver through the political land mines in Haiti,'' said Marie Florence Bell, chairwoman of Bush's task force, who is among a small group of South Florida Haitian Americans who have been hosting informal ''get to know you'' sessions with Haiti's presidential candidates in recent months.

''The rules of engagement [in Haiti] are completely different; it's a mind-boggling, complex, multilayered society,'' she said.

Bell and others say that while they respect Siméus' accomplishments, he should take note of the last Haitian who tried but failed to stabilize an impoverished and volatile Haiti: longtime South Florida resident and current interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.

''After seeing what Gerard Latortue has done to the country, I would rather have someone be president of Haiti who has lived in Haiti for the past five years and knows what is going on,'' said Charles-Henri Baker, a leading opponent of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who intends to run for president as an independent.

MANAGER IS NEEDED

Siméus said the Haitian people have misunderstood why Latortue has failed.

''It's not the fact that he's been in the diaspora,'' said Siméus, a father of three. ``It's the fact that Latortue is not a proven leader, a proven executive. He's never had to manage and run complex organizations. That is the only reason why he has not delivered.''

Siméus faces enormous challenges before Haiti's Nov. 6 presidential election. He must get 100,000 signatures by Sept. 10 as an independent to qualify for the ballot. And he must energize a disenchanted electorate while staving off attempts by Haiti's political class to derail his presidential bid.

Many Haitian politicians have been waiting in the wings since the fall of former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude ''Baby Doc'' Duvalier in 1986 and Aristide's departure last year.

They argue Siméus can't be president because he has lived abroad for the past 44 years.

Article 135 of the Haitian Constitution states a presidential candidate must ''be a native-born Haitian and never have renounced Haitian nationality,'' and have resided in the country for five consecutive years before the election.

Siméus said he has never renounced his Haitian citizenship despite being a U.S. citizen. And he argues that constitutional requirements don't apply in any case, claiming Haiti has been operating outside of the constitution since Aristide's ouster in 2004.

His attorneys have been working the phones, trying to overcome the perceived legal obstacles.

The story of how the son of an uneducated farmer and a merchant woman became a successful American businessman is about never losing sight of the dream.

Like many Haitian youngsters, Dumarsais Siméus stood on the docks of St. Marc, near his hometown, and dreamed about going where the boats were coming from.

His parents sold a plot of land to help him buy a plane ticket to attend college in the United States. He first enrolled at Florida A&M University before eventually graduating from Howard University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in electrical engineering. Later he earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.

He eventually landed a job with TLC Beatrice Foods International, where he developed a reputation for being a taskmaster and ``fixing what's broken.''

He honed his business savvy as president and chief operating officer at Beatrice, the largest black-owned company in the nation.

His firm, which he bought in 1996 with a $55 million loan, is today Texas' largest black-owned company and the largest black-owned food processing plant in the country, according to Black Enterprise magazine. Through it all, Siméus kept in close touch with his homeland.

Though he brought 40 relatives to the United States, including 16 siblings, a foundation bearing his name provides healthcare, food, clothing and education to residents of Haiti's breadbasket, the Artibonite Valley.

''The bottom line is he is a native son of Haiti, clearly born and raised in Haiti, went out in the world to make a success and he has kept constant connection with Haiti,'' said Rob Allyn, the Dallas-based GOP political strategist hired by Siméus.

The firm has helped engineer victories for candidates in the Bahamas, Indonesia and Mexico, as well as for the George W. Bush gubernatorial campaign in Texas.

''Anyone would agree that Dumas Siméus has never forgotten where he came from,'' Allyn added.

Siméus' political platform includes making it easier for companies to invest in Haiti, promoting jobs, and rooting out corruption by making government accountable.

Whether Siméus succeeds, his critics and supporters agree: He is an inspiration.

''I want to create a Haiti where people are proud to stay because there are opportunities,'' he said. ``I want a Haiti where there is access to capital for the average guy, for the poor guy who was born in a hut like I was born in.''

Posted on Wed, Aug. 17, 2005




A PROFILE


• Name: Dumarsais 'Dumas' Siméus.

• Age: 65.

• Birthplace: Pont-Sondé, Haiti, in the Artibonite region.

• Education: Immigrated to Florida in 1961 to attend Florida A&M University. Electrical engineering degree, Howard University; MBA, University of Chicago.

• Title: Chairman of Siméus Foods International, which employs 400-plus workers at its Mansfield, Texas, and North Carolina operations.

• Personal: Married to Kimberly and is the father of three. Helps provide healthcare and potable water in Pont-Sondé through his Siméus Foundation.

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If he were to be allowed to run for President
would he be Haiti's hope for the future good of Haiti?

Your views and comments are welcomed

The last I remember was Aristide being overthrown and hearing about total anarchy.

But I'm young and forgetful and ignorant. *shrug*

I tried to post his picture
but was not able to.

What the hell is Haiti, and should anyone care? :p

Aristide got overthrown, there was lots of gang violence. Didn't the UN go in? I was interested, but they just stopped reporting it...

Aristide got overthrown, there was lots of gang violence. Didn't the UN go in? I was interested, but they just stopped reporting it...

Aristide was brought to the central african republic amidst claims
that he had resigned and had been flow out for his own safety.

Rather interestingly he said he had not resigned and that he had been
effectively kidnapped.

Now I know Haiti is a small country in the great scheme of things
but wouldn't we normally expect to hear more when the elected president
of a country "resigns" in circumstances like these.

After all the coup leaders in Venezuela also claimed that the president
had "resigned" back 2002
Unfortunately for them he hadn't been taken off to another country
and so was able to step back into office within 48 hours.

Well if Haiti can hold out about 25 more years, I'll be there to have them eliminate DR and come out of ruin.

I remember Haiti, alright. I remember wearing a UN armband, and being shot at by the locals, while being forbidden to return fire. I remember sniper attacks on our cantonment that occurred after a REMF Colonel made us unstack the con-ex wall we'd been advised by the Canadians to put up around our area.

I remember the stink, the despair, and the goddamned bugs.

Oh, yeah. I remember Haiti. I remember the place, and I remember who sent us there too.