Obama to Haitian president: US will stand with Haiti as earthquake recovery continues-Added COMMENTARY By Haitian-Truth

The Associated Press

President Barack Obama and Haiti President Michel Martelly shake hands during a photo opportunity in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Feb. 6, 2014 Leave a Comment SHARE

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four years after a powerful earthquake devastated Haiti, President Barack Obama on Thursday praised the rebound taking place in the impoverished Caribbean nation but said there is more work to be done. He pledged that America will remain a partner in that process.

At the start of his first official meeting with Haitian President Michel Martelly, Obama also said he was encouraged by progress Haiti has taken to remove “political roadblocks” to holding legislative and local elections that are two years overdue.

Obama said the “good news” is that because of U.S. and other aid that flowed to Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake, along with Martelly’s leadership and the will of the Haitian people, “we’ve begun to see progress.” The 7.0 earthquake, centered just west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, killed an estimated 300,000 people and left 1.5 million others without permanent homes.

“The economy is growing. Security is improving. Infrastructure is getting rebuilt. Rubble has been removed,” Obama said from the Oval Office as he and Martelly sat side by side in separate chairs. “Health facilities are beginning to open up. Schools are starting to get back into place, and businesses are starting to return to Haiti.”

“It’s been a very slow and difficult process, and I think we are all recognizing that we have a lot more work to do,” Obama added. “But my main message today to the president and to the people of Haiti is that the American people are committed to standing with you in this process.”

Obama said he also was encouraged by progress on legislation that could clear the way for the elections by helping to “resolve some of the political roadblocks that have stalled some progress in the country.”

Martelly’s government recently took an important step toward organizing the balloting with the publication in December of an election law that eased infighting between Martelly and members of parliament.

The executive director of Haiti’s electoral council expects this month to announce a date for the elections. Martelly’s government has appointed some 140 people to local posts in the absence of balloting.

Martelly said he wanted to discuss security issues in Haiti and the broader region, efforts to combat drug trafficking and his desire to build a strong democracy. Besides thanking Obama and the American people for their post-earthquake support, Martelly separately thanked Michelle Obama. The first lady and Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, visited Haiti a few months after the disaster.

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Associated Press writer Trenton Daniel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.

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There are some very important lessons to be learned from Michel Martelly’s visit to Washington.

The Haitian president’s reception in Washington was  much much more broadly expansive than one would expect. This should send an important signal to those who would move to disrupt Haiti and attack President Martelly.

In effect, the Obama administration, and other Washington elements, are sending a message to the people of Haiti. They are supporting Michel Martelly and his Presidency, warts and all. Perhaps, there was some private conversations that suggested a more open and transparent approach to certain this. Someone might have suggested that certain members of his circle, and the government, be less greedy.  There were suggestions that educational funding be handled in a more open, and transparent fashion. A great deal of cash is available for education, but sources are concerned about those involved with the control and dispersal of these funds.

And their focus is not on the Minister of Education.

Much of the funding has been removed from his control.

We will see a support for President Martelly’s revival of the Forces Armees d’Haiti. However, the Americans will voice their resistance the the inclusion of some elements such as Neptune, Richard Salomon, Lubin, and others. Lubin was the one who was willing to testify against Aristide, and others who assassinated Mireille Durocher Bertin and made specific statements, to the F.B.I before Aristide brought an American lawyer in who blocked the investigative process.

The FAdH will be a key element for the future and must be built on firm ground.

The main message to be taken from President Martelly’s visit to Washing is the fact that he will complete his term in office and is looked to as the one who will create a firm and effective bridge to the future.

Aristide – in Washington’s Wish List – is dead, an unpleasant and unfortunate element in the past. Anyone who supports his disruptive efforts to disrupt the democratic process will face problems with the International Community.

Viv Martelly!

Aba Aristide, Belizaire, Moise Jean-Charles, Newton St-Jean, Michel Andre and other pieces of garbage.

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