On the way to Washington, DC, the Prime Minister of Haiti Gary Conille stopped in Miami for a meeting in Little Haiti with the U.S. representative. Frederica Wilson and local Haitian-American leaders.
Originally scheduled for a 45-minute closed-door gathering at Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church, 110 NE 62nd St., the visit lasted more than two hours
Conille left Haiti on Friday as Kenyan troops patrolled downtown Port-au-Prince, along with Haitian SWAT team members.
Wilson said that in addition to Kenyan security assistance, Conille explained to the assembled group how “we can organize safe and secure elections without the corruption” that has marred previous elections in Haiti.
Also discussed were the formation of a constitution, humanitarian aid, health care and involving children in activities to prevent gang recruitment at primary school age.
“We will come out of this meeting with a list of demands for the Biden-Harris administration to support Haiti,” Wilson said.
Aside from a statement on the role of the Haitian diaspora in the country’s full recovery – “We know for sure that the only way we can come out of this successfully in the next twenty months is if our brothers and sisters in the diaspora are actively involved in the process” – Conille did not answer questions from the media.
Wilson said, “We want to make sure this mission is Haitian-led. That is what the Haitian people demand. They demanded that and made that clear to the federal government. So the federal government is trying to give them the space to do that. That is our mission today.”
Wilson and Conille’s allies in Washington DC include U.S. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Broward’s District 20; U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois; and New York U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), who introduced a resolution in May to create the $50 billion Louverture Investment Plan. 1
The plan, named after Haitian independence leader Touissaint Louverture, is described on Cherfilus-McCormick’s website as a “10-year, $50 billion development program to rebuild Haiti, stabilize the country, strengthen democratic and judicial institutions, invest in critical infrastructure, accelerate economic growth…”
North Miami Vice Mayor Mary Estime-Irvin, who is also the chair of the National Haitian American Elected Official Network, said, “We are in discussions to actually put that into a bill to make sure that there is stability and infrastructure dollars for Haiti.
“It is in the United States’ interest to ensure that Haiti is safe.”
