Venezuela - Haiti Observer Blog

Last week, Mary Barton-Dock, the Special Envoy of the World Bank publicly criticized the government of Haiti for the way they has been managing the fund from PetroCaribe. She wants more transparency over the management of the fund.

Mezanmi, Mary Barton-Dock antre nan ron san yo pa invite li

According to HaitiLibre.com. On Sunday, the Ambassador of Venezuela in Haiti, Pedro Antonio Canino showed his fury for the statement. He finds them inappropriate. According to Canino, the World Bank had no business to interfere in the Petrocaribe program. He actually demanded an explanation from Mary Barton-Dock, saying that this is something between Haiti and Venezuela.

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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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Venezuela is one of the biggest contributors to the recovery efforts happening in Haiti since the 2010 quake. Involved in several projects to develop Haiti's infrastructure, they are pumping $341 million USD into housing, tourism, and healthcare services.

After a visit to Caracas in early October, Haitian Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, made an announcement that the government of Venezuela (GOV) has committed to building 4,400 new homes in Haiti, at a cost of $260 million USD. The bulk of the housing, 3,900 housing units, is to be built in Port-au-Prince that was hardest hit during the 7.0 magnitude trembler. Île a Vache, on track for tourism development, will be given 500 housing units. Ile a Vache is also to receive another $66 million USD from GOV, in part, for a new resort hotel. It doesn't stop there. Venezuela's Development Bank of Venezuela will pay for healthcare clinics for a cost of $15 million USD.

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Laurent Lamothe, Haiti's Prime Minister, flew to Nicaragua for the Eighth Petrocaribe Summit held in Managua this year. Accompanied by President of Foreign Affairs, Wenceslas Lambert, and Marie Auguste, Deputy Minister for Human Rights and Fight against Extreme Poverty, they came to negotiate with Venezuela on forming an economic zone.

Eighteen countries constitute the Petrocaribe, a consortium of South Region nations. This year's summit was held on June 28th and 29th. President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela chaired the discussion panel and addressed the proposal of government of Haiti (GOH) for a trade program between the two countries. With the creation of an economic zone, it will be possible to increase Haiti's oil usage from 14,000-20,000 barrels per diem to a more beneficial quota.

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The present Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro paid his first official visit to Haiti on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The meeting between Nicolas Maduro and the Haitian President, Michel Martelly took place on the grounds where once the National Palace stood before it collapsed during the earthquake of 2010. For several hours the meeting was held privately and was aimed towards starting the negotiations so that the flow of special funds could be renewed. Special funds refer to the oil money used primarily for infrastructure projects.

It must be noted that Venezuela is the biggest contributor or donor that has been helping Haiti to get back on its feet after the country was hit by the 2010 earthquake. A huge support came from the PetroCaribe fund of Venezuela. Millions of dollars from the PetroCaribe pact has been used by Haiti for renovating power station, rebuilding international airport runway and also for paying for fuel. The international airport in the second largest city of Haiti has been named after the former Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez.

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There have been many barriers to the government's effort to promote business and investment in Haiti. This new report is the most recent punch in the face of this effort.

Ayiti, Venezyela, Ondiras, kote ki pi danjere pou ekzekitif etranje

Nouvo rapò sa a se yon kout pyen nan efò gouvenman Ayisyen puo Promote Bizsis.

According to Latinbusinesschronicle.com, Haiti found itself with Venezuela, and Honduras as the three most dangerous places in Latin America and the Caribbean for foreign multinational executives for the second consecutive year.

Dapre Latinbusinesschronicle.com, Ayiti ak Venezyela, ak Ondiras, se twa kote nan Amerik Latin ak Karayib ki ranje pi danjere pou ekzekitif etranje pou dezyèm ane.

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The international airport second largest city in Haiti, Cap-Haïtien will be named after former Venezuela's President, late Hugo Chavez. The announcement was made by Laurent Lamothe, Prime Minister of Haiti using micro-blogging website called Twitter. Lamothe sent out the tweet on Thursday afternoon (18th April) when he was on a 6-day tour to USA to boast about the achievement of the Martelly-Lamothe administration.

Lamothe sent out his tweet in French one day after a confusion that spread across the social media platforms regarding homage to be paid to Chavez. Before the tweet was sent out, it was reported by some of the Haitian blogs that Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport of Port-au-Prince will be named after late Hugo Chavez.

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In 2004, according to key government statistics, 20% of the roads in Haiti were made up of highways. According to a recent announcement by the Minister of Public Works Transport and Communication (MTPTC), Jacques Rousseau, at the Council of Ministers, that number will have a slight, yet significant, bump with the plans to construct two new highways.

Funded by the Venezuelan gift that keeps on giving, PetroCaribe, the $30 million dollar venture will erect Elevated Highway Interchanges at Carrefour and Delmas. The plans are set to start in April, and with billboards to be erected announcing the details to the public post-haste, and in the most effective manner for the people who traverse these two areas and are so, set to benefit most from the project, the two new highways are expected to greatly relieve the congestion which grows to epidemic proportions on a daily basis along both commutes. The heavy traffic also contributes to the poor state of the current roadway, as the same government statistics show that 80% of the network is said to be in either bad or very bad condition.

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The Haiti PetroCaribe oil deal was signed just moments following the inauguration of René Préval; one mile away, in the Port-au-Prince bay, was the first shipment of diesel and unleaded fuel from Venezuela. Such decisive movements showed plainly that, while allaying US fears of a Haiti alliance with Venezuela, President Préval had already intended to join the Caribbean oil alliance.

The benefits were immediate, though it would take a few more years before regular deliveries of oil would be possible and construction on the promised oil refinery, an additional gift in the deal, would be complete. But Haiti's new fortune, while it came cheaply, was not without considerable price. The estimated $100 million US that the GOH would save from the delayed payment plan (with 60% up front and the remainder payable over 25 years at 1% interest) was paid for by the anger of the US Government and the US oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil. Not only was PetroCaribe the project of Ugo Chavez, but it would mean significant losses to US investors.

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He was first elected to the post of Haiti's President with a staggering 88% of the popular vote. René Préval again ran for president as the Lespwa candidate but, unlike his first election, this proved not to be a clear-cut victory. When early voting results were released on February 9, they indicated a 60% favorable voting for Préval. This number slipped to 48.7% as more ballots came in and a run-off became necessary.

There were celebrations soon after for the former president, but his comment on February 14, that fraud was at play in the vote counting and that he should be declared the winner of the first round, caused a series of protests to erupt. Port-au-Prince was crippled by torched barricades and protestors stormed the Hotel Montana, demanding the results of the election. Finally, on the 16th, after excluding blank ballots from the count, President Préval officially won his second term as the Haitian head of state with 51.15% of the votes.

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