Oil - Haiti Observer Blog

Mezanmi, opozisyon an gin jett nan min yo. The special envoy to Haiti for the World Bank said he is concerned on how the Haitian government is using the money generated by Venezuelan petroleum. According to him, that is a lack of transparency.

Blan-an di: "Nou pa ka kite sourit Ap veye format"

Sanble ke World Bank pete yon abse!

Mary Barton-Dock who is the director of the World Bank's office in Haiti, said that lack of transparency was the biggest obstacle to Haiti's economic development.

Ginyin yon proveb ki di, lafimin pa jam soty san dife

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Former President René Préval's dealings with the United States began with great promise. He had made the US one of his first visits after winning the 2006 elections, and was quickly congratulated by President George Bush upon his reelection. In the States, the presidential meeting was thought to be fortuitous of the relationship between the two countries under Préval's administration.

Then René Préval surprised them. A series of cables from the US Embassy, made available to Haitian press by WikiLeaks, show that initially, Préval's offense was his dealings with Venezuela and Cuba, a circumstance the US hadn't anticipated after Préval's actions to reassure them. US Ambassador Janet Sanderson took umbrage to perceived shows of 'independence or contrariness', shown by Préval in his dealings with Ugo Chavez. This was exacerbated by Préval's signing the Venezuelan PetroCaribe alliance, a coup with considerable benefits to Haiti, including the estimated $100 million the government would save per year. Washington had made it plain they would not support a Haitian oil deal with Venezuela.

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Against the wishes of many, Haiti, led by then president René Préval, began dealings with Cuba and Fidel Castro. As part of a trilateral cooperate between the two countries and Venezuela, Castro facilitated an aid package to Haiti that would include oil and energy solutions, medical and disaster support, education, etc.

During Préval's first turn as president, after the September 1998 hurricane Georges had ravaged the country and left a cholera outbreak, 500 Cuban doctors were sent to give aid. Described by Préval as second only to God in their healing abilities, the gift was looked on suspiciously by others claiming the intention was to either steal jobs or spread the 'communist influence'. Following Rene Preval's personal experience of the Cuban health system and a second visit of the doctors in the wake of 2010's cholera outbreak, Préval awarded the Cuban Medical Brigade, and by extension Castro, with the country's highest honor, the National Order of Honor and Merit in the grade of Grand Officer. Hundreds of thousands had been infected; the death toll nearly 5000, but the efforts of the Cuban doctors had saved the lives of over 73,000 Haitians.

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Hugo Chavez, late President of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, will remain the most iconic figure of 21st century on the World Political Map. The entire population of Haiti will remain indebted to what Hugo Chavez did for Haitian people and Latin America as a whole. There is no denying of the fact that Chavez deeply loved Haiti and its people.

It was on March 12, 2007 when Chavez visited the then Haitian President René Préval at National Palace of Haiti (that was shattered by the 2010 earthquake) and declared enormous economic aids that were intended for directly aiding the poverty-struck Haitian people as well as sustainable growth of Haiti. These announcements were a part of the PetroCaribe deal signed between Haiti and Venezuela in 2006.

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On Sunday February 17, 2013 while navigating a corner on a road in the Dominican Republic, Dr. Daniel Mathurin suffered injuries from a car crash that would later claim his life. In the wake of this tragic loss of one of Haiti's most venerated scientists, his achievements in research and geophysics, including his speculations on the wealth of tangible and intangible resources to be found in Haiti, is cast back into the forefront of public awareness.

Extensive work he carried out with the wife he has succeeded, shows that Haiti is rich with hydrocarbons. Together, they had also discovered 20 oil sites in the country, five of which they described as being of great importance in the realms of oil speculation and politics. It is research that has led some to question whether or not the 2010 earthquake which all but leveled Haiti and left over 300,000 dead was not caused by clandestine drilling by foreign governments or entities.

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