Jean-Max Bellerive Explained

Jean-Max Bellerive
Office:14th Prime Minister of Haiti
President:René Préval
Michel Martelly
Term Start:11 November 2009
Term End:18 October 2011
Predecessor:Michèle Pierre-Louis
Successor:Garry Conille
Office2:Minister of Planning and External Cooperation
Term Start2:2006
Term End2:2009
Birth Place:Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Party:Lespwa
Spouse:Myriam Estevez De Bellerive

Jean-Max Bellerive (born 1958) is a Haitian politician and former Prime Minister of Haiti. He resigned on 14 May 2011.[1]

Biography

Personal life

Bellerive was born in Port-au-Prince in 1958. As the son of a prominent doctor, he left Haiti at a very young age to study in Switzerland, France, and Belgium. With a degree in Political Science and International Relations, Bellerive returned to Haiti in 1986,[2] just before the overthrow of Jean-Claude Duvalier. He is married to Myriam Estevez De Bellerive and has two adult daughters, Diana Jennifer Bellerive and Jessica Bellerive.

Prime Minister of Haiti

Prior to his appointment as Prime Minister, Bellerive was the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation.The Haitian President, René Préval, following the orders of a senate resolution, nominated Bellerive on 30 October 2009 to replace the former Prime Minister, Michèle Pierre-Louis.[3] A day before the nomination, on 29 October 2009, 18 senators of a 29-member senate had voted to dismiss Pierre-Louis on charges that she was performing poorly in leading Haiti's economic recovery efforts in the wake of the destructive 2008 hurricane season.[3]

On 14 May 2011, Bellerive resigned as Prime Minister, so as to allow the country's new president, Michel Martelly, to choose his own prime minister. Martelly selected Daniel Gérard Rouzier to succeed Bellerive. However, the parliament rejected Rouzier.

Corruption allegations

2016 investigation

Bellerive was one of several former government officials targeted by the Chair of the Senate's Anti-Corruption Committee, Youri Latortue, in an investigation of the management of the Petrocaribe program.[4]

2017 investigation

Reuters reported in December 2017 that Bellerive was banned from leaving the country amid a corruption investigation along with, who is a former justice minister that served in 2016. He was ordered not to leave by a judge investigating the disappearance of a public procurement official and the 2012 death of a construction manager allegedly connected to the case. Bellerive denied involvement.[5]

2023 U.S. Department of State public designation

On 11 December 2023, the U.S. State Department publicly designated Bellerive as pursuant to Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023, "for abusing his public position by participating in corrupt activity that undermined the integrity of Haiti’s government." Bellerive is not permitted entry into the United States. His immediate family members were also designated.[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Haiti Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive resigns. Charles. Jacqueline. The Miami Herald. 15 May 2011 . 27 September 2011.
  2. News: Haitian Prime Minister Bellerive known as political survivor, technocrat. 30 July 2010. 25 January 2010. Brunswick News. 26 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120226123504/http://www.canadaeast.com/news/article/932309. dead.
  3. News: Delva. Joseph Guyler. Haiti president designates economist to be premier. 30 July 2010. 31 October 2009. Reuters. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160820020419/http://in.reuters.com/article/haiti-primeminister-idINN3039324720091030. 20 August 2016.
  4. Web site: Major Corruption Committed Among the Public and Private Sectors in Haiti and Corruption Prosecutions Investigated by the Haitian Judiciary. 28 January 2024. 2022. U.S. Department of State.
  5. News: Delva. Joseph Guyler. Haiti's ex-prime minister banned from travel amid corruption probe. Reuters. 26 December 2017. 28 January 2023.
  6. Web site: Office of the Spokesperson. Leveraging Tools to Promote Accountability and Counter Global Corruption. 11 December 2023. U.S. Department of State. 12 December 2023. Jean-Max Bellerive, former Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and External Cooperation. Pursuant to Section 7031(c), the Department of State is publicly designating Bellerive for abusing his public position by participating in corrupt activity that undermined the integrity of Haiti’s government. As part of this action, his immediate family members are also designated, including his spouse Myriam Estevez De Bellerive and his adult daughters Diana Jennifer Bellerive and Jessica Bellerive..