Sen. Rudolph H. Boulos, a founder of the Haiti Democracy Project in 2002 and elected to the senate in 2006, was forced to flee Haiti on March 18, 2008 after a vote against him in the senate orchestrated by President Préval. The senator was too independent for Préval’s liking. Another senator had warned Boulos that he would be killed in jail if arrested. The night of the vote, Boulos fled to the Dominican Republic to avoid imminent arrest on trumped-up charges.
In the following year, two groups of assassins were sent against him, one in Santo Domingo and one in Dajabon. In March 2010, Préval sent two groups. Both were intercepted by the Dominican government. The second attempt was reported in the Dominican press.