Autopsy reveals former Haiti president died from heart disease
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — An autopsy report has revealed that former Haitian President Rene Preval died from heart disease.
This was revealed to journalists on Wednesday by Haiti’s prosecutor Clame-Ocnam Dameus who said Preval’s heart was swollen and turned black, harming his ability to breathe.He emphasised that chronic disease led to the former President’s death and not foul play. Preval, who was 74 at the time of his death, died suddenly after falling unconscious at his home on March 3.“Effectively, there had been a certain suspicion because the death was sudden… there was no violence. There was no trace of violence. There is no one to arrest,” he said, adding that the investigation into the cause of death was now closed.According to Jean Armel Demorcy, who had led the medical investigation, Preval suffered from chronic breathing issues for years. Rene Preval, was the first president in Haitian history to win a democratic election, serve a full term and peacefully hand power to a successor. He became a central figure in Haitian politics from the early 1990s through to his second presidency.An agronomist, he won support from Haiti’s poor majority when he was first elected president in 1996 after a bout of instability that saw his ally, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, toppled in a coup, and then brought back to power.He served a second term as president starting in 2006.