Marc Bazin

Marc Louis Bazin (March 6, 1932 – June 16, 2010) was a World Bank official, former United Nations functionary and Haitian Minister of Finance and Economy under the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier. He was prime minister of Haiti appointed on June 4, 1992 by the military government that had seized power on September 30, 1991.

Marc Louis Bazin
Minister without portfolio
In office
March 14, 2002 – September 20, 2002
PresidentJean-Bertrand Aristide
Prime MinisterYvon Neptune
Succeeded byRobert Ulysse
Minister of Planning and External Cooperation
In office
March 2, 2001 – January 21, 2002
PresidentJean-Bertrand Aristide
Prime MinisterJean Marie Chérestal
Preceded byAnthony Dessources
Succeeded byPaul Duret
President of Haiti
(Provisional)
In office
June 19, 1992 – June 15, 1993
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byJoseph Nérette
Succeeded byÉmile Jonassaint
4th Prime Minister of Haiti
In office
June 19, 1992 – August 30, 1993
PresidentHimself
Preceded byJean-Jacques Honorat
Succeeded byRobert Malval
Minister of Finance and Economy
In office
February 3, 1982 – July 12, 1982
PresidentJean-Claude Duvalier
Preceded byEmmanuel Bros
Succeeded byFrantz Merceron
Personal details
Born(1932-03-06)March 6, 1932
Saint-Marc, Haiti
DiedJune 16, 2010(2010-06-16) (aged 78)
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
NationalityHaitian
Political partyMouvement for the Instauration of Democracy in Haiti (MIDH)
Spouse(s)Marie-Yolaine Sam
ProfessionLawyer

Life

Born in Saint-Marc, his father, Louis Bazin was a member of the black elite in Artibonite. He studied law and economics at the Solvay Institute in Brussels and later worked as an economist for the World Bank from 1972 to 1976. Bazin served as Minister of Finance and Economy for six months in 1982.[1]

He was considered to be the favorite Haitian presidential candidate of the George H. W. Bush administration and the bourgeois population of Haiti. When the country could no longer last in foreign relations as a military dictatorship and had to open the government up to free elections in 1990, Bazin was seen as a front runner if the elections were to happen before the Left in Haiti had time to reorganize.[2]

Ultimately, Bazin received 14% of the vote, Jean-Bertrand Aristide winning the Haitian general election, 1990–1991 with 67%.[3] After nine months, Aristide was deposed by a military coup. In June 1992, the army appointed Bazin as acting president. Washington's initial response was that he held the post illegally, but they soon warmed up to him and pressed Aristide to negotiate with the military and Bazin. With the change in administrations, the policy changed.[4][5] He resigned on June 8, 1993.[6]

Bazin was also a fervent political opponent of Aristide, and ran in the 2006 election for the presidency of Haiti,[7] but was reported to have received only about 0.68% of the vote in the 35-candidate race.

Bazin died of prostate cancer at his home in Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince on 16 June 2010.

References
  1. R. Hall, Michael (2012). Historical Dictionary of Haiti. Scarecrow Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780810878105.
  2. Haiti: best nightmare on Earth, Herbert Gold, Transaction Publishers, 2001, ISBN 978-0-7658-0733-5
  3. http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact92/wf930107.txt
  4. "Love and Haiti", The New Republic, Amy Wilentz, July 5, 1993
  5. Plunging into Haiti: Clinton, Aristide, and the defeat of diplomacy, Ralph Pezzullo, University Press of Mississippi, 2006, ISBN 978-1-57806-860-9
  6. Star-News
  7. Haiti Elections Washington Post
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