Hérard Abraham (28 July 1940 – 24 August 2022) was a

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an military officer and politician who served as acting

President of Haiti The president of Haiti (, ), officially called the president of the Republic of Haiti (, , ), is the head of state of Haiti. Executive power in Haiti is divided between the president and the government, which is headed by the prime minister of ...

between 10 March 1990 and 13 March 1990.

Biography

Hérard Abraham was born in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

on 28 July 1940. He enlisted in the Haitian army as a young man and rose to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. Abraham became one of the few military members in the inner circle of President

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" (, ), was a Haitian dictator who held the presidency of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father François ...

. He supported the 1986 coup against him. Under

Henri Namphy Henri Namphy (; 2 October 1932 – 26 June 2018) was a Haitian general and political figure who served as President of Haiti's interim ruling body, the National Council of Government, from 7 February 1986 to 7 February 1988. He served again as P ...

, he served as the Secretary of State for the Interior and National Defense from 7 February to 24 March 1986, the Minister of Information and Coordination from 24 March 1986 to January 1987 and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 20 June to 18 September 1988. He became acting

on 10 March 1990 after street protests forced President

Prosper Avril Matthieu Prosper Avril (born December 12, 1937) is a Haitian political figure who was President of Haiti from 1988 to 1990. A trusted member of François Duvalier's Presidential Guard and adviser to Jean-Claude Duvalier, Lt. Gen. Avril led the Se ...

into exile. He gave up power three days later, becoming the only military leader in Haiti during the twentieth century to give up power voluntarily. Abraham helped in securing the

1990–91 Haitian general election Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno ...

. In January 1991, he helped to crush a coup attempt by

Roger Lafontant Roger Lafontant (1931– 29 September 1991) was the former leader of the Tonton Macoutes and a former minister in the government of Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. He was the leader of an attempted coup d'état in January 1991, an effort ...

. In July 1991, he was forced to retire from the army by the recently elected President

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theo ...

and moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He settled in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and drifted into obscurity. After the

2004 Haitian coup d'état A coup d'état in Haiti on 29 February 2004, following several weeks of conflict, resulted in the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office. On 5 February, a rebel group, called the National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation ...

forced Aristide to resign, Abraham was one of the contenders for the position of the

Prime Minister of Haiti The prime minister of Haiti ( French: , ) is the head of government of Haiti. The office was created under the Constitution of 1987; previously, all executive power was held by the president or head of state, who appointed and chaired the Counc ...

. His friend

Gérard Latortue Gérard Latortue (; 19 June 1934 – 27 February 2023) was a Haitian politician and diplomat who served as the prime minister of Haiti from 12 March 2004 to 9 June 2006. He was an official in the United Nations for many years, and briefly served ...

however was chosen at the end by the Council of Sages and he appointed Abraham as a minister in his cabinet. Abraham was sworn in as the Minister of Interior and National Security on 17 March 2004. He later served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 28 January 2005 to 9 June 2006. On 7 October 2019, amid nationwide protests for the resignation of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, the retired lieutenant general penned an open letter regretting the situation. He called on political leaders to show thoughtfulness and patience for a resolution so that the country could never again be called a "shit hole", referring to language attributed to U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. In 2020, President

Jovenel Moïse Jovenel Moïse (; ; 26 June 1968 – 7 July 2021) was a Haitian politician and Businessperson, businessman who served as President of Haiti from 2017 until Assassination of Jovenel Moïse, his assassination in 2021. Moïse assumed the preside ...

appointed Abraham to a five-member committee for drafting a new

Constitution of Haiti The Constitution of Haiti (, ) was modeled after the constitutions of the United States, Poland and France. The latest version of the document was approved by Parliament in March 2011 and came into effect on June 20, 2012. History A total of 22 ...

. He started suffering from a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

before his death and died at the age of 82 on 24 August 2022 at his home in Fermathe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Herard 1940 births 2022 deaths 20th-century presidents of Haiti Interior ministers of Haiti Foreign ministers of Haiti Haitian generals 1980s in Haiti 1990s in Haiti 2000s in Haiti 20th-century Haitian politicians 21st-century Haitian politicians Haitian expatriates in the United States People from Port-au-Prince