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U.S. CEO wants to run Haiti

Dumarsais Simus, the most successful Haitian-American businessman in the US today, is going home to run for president of Haiti. After months of speculation, the CEO of one of the largest black-owned businesses in the US told supporters he will start campaigning for the November election, the first since Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted following a violent rebellion in February 2004. But the hurdles ahead are many. Simus has no political experience, no name recognition, and no party in Haiti. Then, there are the worsening problems of the hemisphere`s poorest nation: The gang violence, kidnappings, and other crime now are such that it is unclear whether the elections will even take place this fall.

"I wanted my fellow native sons and daughters of the Artibonite Valley to hear it from me first.... I am a candidate for president of Haiti," Mr. Simus, the son of illiterate peasants, announced Wednesday in his rural hometown of Pont-Sond. "Today marks the start of a new beginning for our country ... in a time of crisis.

Even if the vote goes ahead, under the current interpretation of the Constitution, Simus would be ineligible to run. Article 135 of the Haitian Constitution states a presidential candidate must "be a native-born Haitian and never have renounced Haitian nationality, and have resided in the country for five consecutive years before the election." Simus, 65, has taken US citizenship, and has been living in the US for 44 years. A father of three, Simus is a Howard University graduate with an MBA from the University of Chicago, and has held key management positions in companies such as Atari, Inc., Rockwell International, Bendix Corporation, and PromoCapital, the first investment banking firm in Haiti. He served as CEO of TLC Beatrice Foods, a $2 billion multinational conglomerate.

Today, he is CEO of Simus Foods International, Inc. based in Mansfield, Texas, the largest minority-owned businesses in that state, according to Black Enterprise magazine. It does some $160 million in yearly sales to such customers as Denny`s, T.G.I. Friday`s and Burger King. He runs his own foundation, sending money to help poor communities in Haiti, and he sits on Florida Gov. Jeb Bush`s Haiti Task Force. His parents, who once sold a plot of land so as to be able to send their eldest of 12 children to college in the US, still live in Haiti.