Thousands of Haitians thronged the national palace in Port-au-Prince to take part in the inauguration for Preval, a soft-spoken 63-year-old who replaces a U.S.-backed interim government installed after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile amid the bloody February 2004 revolt.

Preval, a champion of the poor who served as president from 1996 to 2001, will have to overcome big challenges to govern.

Between 40 percent and 65 percent of school-age children do not attend school, as many as one in 20 people is infected with HIV and criminal gangs control many of the country's slums and ports.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 20, 2006
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