Laurent Lamothe - Haiti Observer Blog

Convergent histories aren't the only things that Haiti shares with the nations of the African Union. There is also a similar outlook for the future regarding their countries. It is this current and future point of synchronicity that Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe wished to capitalize on when he participated in the Assembly of the African Union's 22nd Ordinary Session.

Fresh off his part in the Economic Forum's 44th session in Davos, Lamothe flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the AU meeting held from January 28 to 31, 2014. With the aim of the meeting being to hold talks on issues such as the security of food and agriculture, peace, the security of Africa and international trade, Lamothe found himself in a good position as observer of the meeting to glean new ideas and discuss possible partnerships to better aid Haiti.

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Haitian Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, while attending the 44th World Economic Forum, held a private meeting with Michael Dell, who founded global company, Dell Computer.

Lamothe is reaching out to Dell, as part of implementing the Martelly administration's E-Governance Program, which includes developing initiatives for education and the environment. He met with Dell to talk about job creation, and the use of cutting-edge technologies to improve the functioning of the government of Haiti (GOH).

Dell and Lamothe dialogued about the urgency of starting a partnership between the GOH and Dell Computer. They were in accord about using Dell's computer technology to promote the modernization of public administration and provide more transparency in the running of government affairs. Martelly has placed the modernization of state functions high on his list of priorities. The discussions also targeted Haiti's quality of education and its improvement.

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The Haitian Prime Minister Lamothe Laurent has pledged categorical commitment of his team and President Michel Martelly to provide every means to facilitate the holding of legislative and local elections this year. The government believes that this will be a definite move to pave the way for holding free, fair and inclusive elections which is a pre-condition for strengthening good governance and creating suitable environment for socioeconomic development to benefit the Haitian people.

The elections would decide one third of Haiti's Senate, along with a number of municipal posts in the country. The present president Michel Joseph Martelly received 67.6% of the votes in the 2010-11 General Election and he won the last presidential selection with a runoff election held on 20 March 2011 against Mirlande Manigat who received 31.7% of the votes.

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Since the legalization of Voodoo as an authentic faith in 2003, they have grown in political stature. Recently the National Confederation of Haitian Voodoo Practitioners (NCHVP) met with Prime Minister Lamothe to discuss inclusion in the social institutions of the country.

They argued against any policies proposed by conventional religious and women's groups keeping NCHVP from enjoying the rights of other civil society groups. Voodoo High Priestess, Envonie Auguste, stated Haiti's Founding Fathers' ideals included freedom and unity of Haitians, without prejudice of skin color differences, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. She invited the civil society sector to begin a dialogue to right the wrongs inflicted on Voodoo believers, so they may acquire social inclusion in civil institutions.

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Google had a chance to show off its self-driving car when Haitian Prime Minister Lamothe paid a visit to the Mountain View tech company in November. Google is one of three companies to have developed the technology for self-automated (SA) vehicles, along with Tesla and Nissan. Google, first one out the starting gate, has a fleet of self-automated models that are still in the testing phase. The autos have registered hundreds of thousands of test miles with no technical malfunctions.

In the planning stages of designing a SA auto, Tesla will build one to perform 90% of all driving duties. They are expected to offer the first model in three years. Nissan's goal is to develop their SA technology to offer consumers affordable SA autos by 2020.

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Mezanmi, Ayisyen se yon ti pep ki pale anpil oui. Depi lotrejou, anpil Ayisyen ap kouri bri di Premye minis Ayisyen-an, Laurent Lamothe, pa Ayisyen; min plito se yon Chilyen

One thing I know about my people is that we Haitian talk about everything and anything. Sometime, we even talk about things that do not exist.

The last commotion has to do with the nationality of the Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. Now there is a rumor letting people know that he does not have Haitian nationality. Some people are suggesting that he is of Chilean nationality instead

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The Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe had the opportunity to be with the people at the cutting edge of technology as well as the most powerful and successful in term of business.

He met some of the most successful corporate executives of Silicon Valley, including elite tech firms like Google, Facebook and apple to ask for support some of their innovation with Haiti.

Here are some of the most innovative tech Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe visited:

- Internet-connected eyeglasses (By Google)
- Company's driverless car (By Google)

According to Laurent Lamothe, "Technology can help us bridge the development barrier we have today."

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The Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe on a whirlwind tour visited the most elite tech firms in Silicon Valley on November 20, 2013 and persuaded some of the world's wealthiest and most successful corporate executives to extend support with innovative ideas to the poorest country in the Americas. The Prime Minister spent the day by visiting some of the best technology companies like Google, Facebook and Apple. Lamothe joined many CEOs, stream of politicians and celebrities and did brisk business while schmoozing and discussing the role of technology in changing lives. He commented that technology has the ability to break barriers to success.

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In a bold move, Haitian Prime Minister Lamothe took the UN to task regarding its culpability in the outbreak of cholera in Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake. He cited the statistics of nearly 9,000 Haitians, who lost their lives to cholera, with another 600,000 or more critically ill.

He made his appearance before the UN General Assembly to specifically confront the issue and ask the UN to step up its efforts to help Haiti stamp out "the world's worst cholera outbreak". To his credit, Lamothe made a proposal to create a joint commission to investigate the methods and applications that would absolutely end the epidemic for good.

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Leo Joseph, the owner of the Haiti Observateur Group has agreed to the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against them by the Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and Patrice Baker, Lamothe's former business partner. The Haitian Prime Minister Lamothe and Baker sued the online paper in 2012 for publishing an article that alleged them for pressuring "Haitel", a bankrupt telecom company, to sell its assets below market price to an investment company named 'Nord Citadel' who was seeking investment opportunities in Haiti.

The main allegation against Lamothe and Baker was that they forced Nord Citadel to make a down payment as full purchase price to buy the assets of Haitel for $25 million though its market value was somewhere around $80 million. The online paper published the story, as per their earlier declaration, on the basis of an interview with Michael Charles, the founder and managing partner of Nord Citadel.

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