Word: avril
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...FOOD OR THE COMPANY? Ever since the U.S. flew tottering Haitian President Prosper Avril into exile in March, the former leader's whereabouts have been a well-kept secret. Rumors targeted Boca Raton, Fla., New Orleans and the Washington area. Now the wife of a prominent Haitian businessman claims a close encounter. Leaving a restaurant in Miami Lakes, Fla., she suddenly screamed, "There is Avril!" Says her husband: "I went home and took a Maalox and a tranquilizer...
...Haiti's most recent strongman was reminiscent of Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier's ignominious departure in 1986. On the morning of his 53rd birthday, after seven days of protests and a general strike, Lieut. General Prosper Avril and his family were driven to the airport on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince last week, placed aboard a U.S. Air Force C-141 StarLifter and flown into refuge in the U.S. Thus ended the turbulent 18-month rule of Haiti's fourth leader in four years...
...difference between the exits of Duvalier and Avril was that civilians, not military men, engineered the latest transfer of power to a provisional government -- and that gave Haitians cause for hope. Last Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Ertha Pascal Trouillot was sworn in as President. "My essential task is electoral preparations at a national level," she declared, "and to pass power to a democratically elected government...
Trouillot must also navigate her way through the demands and desires of some 20 political parties. In a rare demonstration of unity, opposition leaders banded together in the so-called Group of 12 to press for Avril's ouster and select the new President. But that unity is expected to crumble as soon as campaigning begins. Until the election, Trouillot must govern in tandem with a 19-member Council of State, composed of representatives from social groups and geographic regions. The panel has veto power over presidential decisions -- and that alone could stymie progress toward elections...
...that anyone doubts Trouillot's sincerity. "We believe this government is truly dedicated to conducting elections," said U.S. Ambassador Alvin Adams, who played a crucial role in hastening Avril's departure. As a lawyer and judge, Trouillot, 46, earned a reputation for integrity and political independence. The tenth child of a working-class family, she is the author of several books on law and rose through the judicial system to a seat on the high court. In her inaugural speech, Trouillot "accepted this heavy task in the name of the Haitian woman...