Francois Antoine Simon - Haiti Observer Blog

Francois C. Antoine Simon (1843 - 1923) was the 18th Haitian President between 6 December 1908 and 3 August 1911. He succeeded his predecessor, the autocratic President Pierre Nord Alexis, by leading a rebellion against him.

President Simon had little formal education but with his foresight, appointed a six member cabinet team for the well being of the country. He was a respected and ambitious president who introduced many beneficial reforms for the development and rebuilding of Haiti. His one of the greatest achievement was to introduce an Act that enabled many Haitians in exile to return. President Simon constantly strove to improve the agriculture in the country.

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The Haitian government is led by a president, who shares his/her executive power with the prime minister. Once elected by popular vote, the president will run the country for five years. After the term, the president could not run in the next election. He/she has to wait for five years in order to seek a second term. Haiti presidents can only serve for a maximum of two terms.

Not everyone can run for president as there are certain qualifications and requirements to be eligible for the seat. Only candidates with Haitian citizenship by birth can run for the position, as well as those who are at least 35 years of age. Jail sentence, loss of civil rights and lack of property ownership and residency can make a candidate ineligible to assume the position.

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Les Cayes is a beautiful town located in southwest Haiti. It is the capital of the Sud Department and is situated on the Caribbean coast near the Ravine du Sud River. It is located southwest of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, at a distance of 196 km. It has six communes including Torbeck, Les Cayes, Maincihe, Camp-Perrin, Île à Vache and Chantal.

History Of Les Cayes

Since the other cays and small Île à Vache island are located near by, the town was given the name Aux Cayes, which means 'On the Cays'. Even now the old name is kept, besides the new name Les Cayes.

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Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was born on 4th March 1859. He was a cousin of Tiresias Simon Sam. Being the commander of Haiti's North Division gave him a lot of power that he led a rebellion against Francois C. Antoine Simon and Cincinnatus Leconte took over the presidency. He also headed the rebellion that overthrew Oreste Zamor. Sam became the president after president Joseph Davilmar Theodore resigned in February 1915.

Since Haiti had been faced with five unruly years, Sam was forced by Dr Rosalvo Bobo to campaign with rebels against his own government. Dr Rosalvo Bobo was against the financial assistance from U.S government.
Sam refused to act upon the command and instead treated his political opponent badly. He even ordered that 167 political prisoners be killed including the former president Zamor. This annoyed Haitians forcing them to rebel against him. When Sam realized the reactions of Haitians, he decided to hide from them.

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