Dumarsais Simeus

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Dumarsais Mécène Siméus Photo VOA News
Dumarsais Mécène Siméus Photo VOA News

Dumarsais Mécène Siméus (also Dumas Siméus) was born in 1939, is a Haitian-born and U.S. naturalized businessman from Texas. Simeus has returned to Haiti to be a candidate in the first presidential election since the ouster of Jean Bertrand Aristide.

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[edit] Early life

Siméus was born in Pont-Sondé in Haiti's Artibonite Valley. He is the eldest son of illiterate peasant rice farmers. He grew up working the land in Haïti to feed himself and his 11 siblings. In 1961 His family sold some land so he could fly to the United States to pursue a college education at Florida A&M University. Siméus transferred to Howard University in Washington, DC where he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering.

In 1970, he became a US citizen. [1] Then in 1972 he earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.[2]

[edit] Career

He worked his way up the corporate ladder. He was a financial analyst at Rockwell International and KB Home. A director of Latin American Operations for Bendix, general manager of Hartz Pet Food, France and VP of International Business Development at Atari. [3][4]

He would quickly rise in the corporate world, becoming a for several U.S. companies; president of Beatrice Food, Latin America; and eventually president and chief operating officer of TLC Beatrice International Food.

In 1984, Siméus started working for TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc., the $2.1 billion, black-owned food processing and distribution company. He served as President and CEO for two years before leaving in 1992 to buy and run his own business.

In 1996, with $55 million financing, Siméus bought Portion-Trol Foods from Flagstar Corp in Mansfield, Texas and renamed it Simeus Foods International Inc. Siméus Foods, based south of Fort Worth manufactures value added food products for national multi-chain restaurants and large institutions like El Pollo Loco, Denny's, T.G.I. Friday's and Burger King in the United States and Canada.[5] Simeus Foods Intl. now generates $155 million a year.

In 1999, Siméus Siméus established Org. Sové Lavi www.sovelavi.org, a non-profit foundation to provide medical care, education and clothing to Haitians.

In October 2004-February 2005, he served on Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's advisory board for Haiti. The group made a series of recommendations for Haïti's security, economic development and disaster preparedness. [6]

A group of about 40 U.S.-based Haitian business and civic leaders have pushed him to run for president. [7]

[edit] Run for Haitian Presidency

After months of speculation, Simeus decided to make a run for the Haitian Presidency in August 2005.[8] Simeus' political platform includes making it easier for companies to invest in Haiti, promoting jobs, and rooting out corruption by making government accountable. Simeus said "I want to create a Haiti where people are proud to stay because there are opportunities." ..."I want a Haiti where there is access to capital for the average guy, for the poor guy who was born in a hut like I was born in." [9] During his campaign he runs into a few challenges.

His status as a dual national has become a challenge. Simeus says he still has Haitian citizenship despite taking the US Oath of Allegiance, which renounced all other citizenships. The Haïtian Electoral Board disagreed. Eventually this matter was taken to the Haitian Supreme Court. The Haitian Supreme Court recently ruled that Simeus could place his name on the ballot, but he still faces election council challenges to his candidacy and a threat of prosecution alleging false candidacy claims on election papers. Article 135 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.

Another challenge is his public acceptance. Simeus was essentially unknown in Haiti prior to 2004 and many viewed him as an outsider. At a campaign rally, he was cordially received in Solino, a crumbling and crime-plagued neighborhood of the Haitian capital Port au Prince. But when his tour reached the Bel Air neighbourhood, a stronghold for supporters of ex-president Aristide, dozens of angry men and women rushed onto the streets, hurling rocks and chunks of concrete at Mr. Siméus's car, forcing him to flee. [10]

On September 27, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a 6-hour visit to Haiti, publicly and pointedly called on Haiti’s interim government to hold “inclusive” elections. Rice reportedly pressed Prime Minister Gérard Latortue for Siméus to be readmitted to the race. On Oct. 11, the Supreme Court ruled in Siméus’ favor, ordering the CEP to put the Texan back on the ballot. Dumarsais Simeus lost the election and has seemingly thrown his support towards the winner of the election, President-designate René Préval.

[edit] Family

Simeus is married and a father of three. He has brought 40 relatives to the United States but his parents remain in Haiti. [11]

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