Two-time president dies, his wife confirmed

Former Haitian President René Préval has died, his wife Elisabeth Delatour Préval confirmed to the Miami Herald. He was 74.

Préval, who was president during Haiti’s tragic Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, died at home in Laboule, a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. His wife, who wasn’t with him, said she had spoken to him “three times” Friday morning.

“He was in excellent humor,” said Delatour Préval, who is traveling. “He asked, ‘When are you coming home?’ I refused to believe it. I cannot believe it.”

Préval served as president from 1996 to 2001, and again from 2006-2011. He is the only president in Haitian history to have served two full presidential terms and not be jailed, exiled or killed.

Jerry Tardieu, a member of the Lower House of Deputies, was equally surprised by the news. He had spent two hours with the former president at his home on Friday, leaving at around 11 a.m. Préval wanted to meet with him to discuss a law to protect national production.

An agronomist by training, Préval devoted his years out of the presidency to turning bamboo into furniture to create jobs, and to boost the national production of agricultural products. A savvy politician, he continued to be sought out by foreign diplomats as Haiti reeled from one political crisis to another in recent years.