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Bernard Fils-Aimé
Bernard Fils-Aimé
	Fils-Aimé in 2009
Born	24 May 1953; Petionville, Haiti
Died	8 August 2020 (aged 67); Miami, Florida, United States
Alma mater	Florida International University
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, activist
Spouse	Marise Piverger (m. 1980)
Children	3

Bernard Fils-Aimé (24 May 1953 – 8 August 2020) was a Haitian entrepreneur and activist. He was part of community assistance organizations for Haitians in America, cofounding the Haitian Refugee Center and serving on the board of the Haitian Education & Leadership Program. He also served as the managing director of Comcel Haiti from its founding in 1998 until its sale to Digicel in 2012.

Early life and activism

Bernard Fils-Aimé was the youngest of four children. His father, Camile Fils-Aimé, died soon after Bernard was born.^[1] His mother, Uranie Gabriel Fils-Aimé, was the directrice of the Republic of Guatemala Primary School in Petionville.^[2] She opposed François Duvalier, and was briefly arrested for criticizing his policies.^[1]

Fils-Aimé and his family left Haiti for New York City in 1966.^[1] He graduated from John Jay High School in 1971,^[3] then studied at Columbia University for two years. He became involved in student activism, and remained active after he left the university. At a Haiti-related event for student organizers, Fils-Aimé met Marise Piverger; they married in 1980 despite her parents' disapproval, and moved to Miami.^[1]

In Miami, Fils-Aimé co-founded the Haitian Refugee Center, which organized protests and litigated cases on behalf of detained Haitian refugees.^[4]

Fils-Aimé later went back to school, completing his bachelor's degree^[1] and a Master of Public Administration from Florida International University.^[5] He worked in various administrative positions at Miami-Dade Community College: he was director of placement at the Wolfson campus,^[6] and later served as the assistant dean of students.^[7] Fils-Aimé was also a member of the Book Distribution Committee for the Miami Book Fair International in 1992,^[8] 1993,^[9] and 1995.^[10]

Business in Haiti

In 1995, Fils-Aimé moved back to Haiti, although he would regularly visit Miami.^[7] His first business venture was SabbAimé S.A., an importer and distributor of frozen chicken.^[5] Around this time, a group of American investors wanted to start a wireless carrier in Haiti, and approached Fils-Aimé to serve as a local partner. He took part in the license negotiations with the Haitian government, and became the first CEO when the company was inaugurated in 1998 as Comcel Haiti.^[1]

He recognized that Comcel faced unique hurdles as one of the few large private enterprises in Haiti. When subscribers complained of being unable to charge their phones, Fils-Aimé would let them charge their phones for free at Comcel headquarters.^[11] He also directed Comcel's resources toward philanthropic initiatives; when the company changed its name to Voila, Fils-Aimé became the president of the Voila Foundation.^[1]

From 2006 to 2007, he served as the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti.^[12]

Fils-Aimé retired from Voila's management after its sale to Digicel in 2012. He then joined the board of the Haitian Education & Leadership Program. He also served as president of the Trilogy International Foundation, which is associated with Comcel's US parent company.^[13]

Political involvement

Fils-Aimé was a close friend of Haitian President René Préval.^[14]

In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Fils-Aimé was critical of the Haitian government's plan to appropriate land for building aid camps; he observed that many political conflicts in Haiti had been triggered by land disputes.^[15] He also defended a private-sector-run opinion poll for the 2010–11 Haitian presidential election in the name of transparency, as previous such polls had not been publicly released.^[16]

In 2019, Fils-Aimé published an op-ed in the Miami Herald decrying President Jovenel Moïse's responses to the 2018–2019 Haitian protests. The article was reprinted after the Herald erroneously attached a photograph of Reggie Fils-Aimé (the former CEO of the North American division of video game company Nintendo) instead of Bernard Fils-Aimé.^[17]^[18]