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Port au Prince Archbishop Killed in Earthquake – Thousands Dead in Destruction of Haitian Capital January 13th, 2010
Thousands are dead in the violent earthquake that devastated Haiti yesterday. News is difficult to come by, but it has been reported that the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, has died in the Haiti earthquake. His body was found by fellow missionaries in the ruins of the archdiocesan office.
Frs. Fred Charpentier and Adrien Difficile, communicating via email, have reported that the main building of the Provincial House in Port au Prince remains standing but an addition built about nine years ago has totally crumbled. An Oblate, who was inside when the tremors were first felt, managed to leave safely before the building collapsed. The Theology residence in Turgeau, close to Port-au-Prince, has also been totally destroyed.
Les Cayes, located on the southwest coast, also experienced the tremors but apparently suffered little or no destruction. That area on Wednesday had electricity but no phones and again, communication was by e-mail.
This statement on Haiti was released by the Oblate Central Administration:
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Paris Club creditors cancel 100% of Haïti’s debt July 10th, 2009
Representatives of the Paris Club creditor countries and of the Republic of Haiti agreed July 8th on debt cancellation. This flowed from Haiti’s finally having reached its Completion Point under the IMF and World Bank’s jointly sponsored Enhanced Initiative for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (enhanced HIPC Initiative) on 30 June 2009.
Bill Clinton Visits Haiti as Special UN Envoy July 10th, 2009
Former United States President Bill Clinton is finishing a three-day visit to Haiti today, his first since being appointed United Nations Special Envoy for the impoverished Caribbean nation.
During a visit to the country in March, Mr. Clinton and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assessed the situation in the wake of four back-to-back tropical storms that battered the country in 2008, killing nearly 800 people and affecting an estimated 1 million people.
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72 Members of Congress Urge World Bank to Cancel Haiti’s Debt February 27th, 2009
Debt Cancellation Will Help Haiti Avoid National Collapse, Give Fragile Democracy a Chance
A bipartisan group of 72 US Representatives called on World Bank President Robert Zoellick late yesterday to immediately suspend all scheduled debt repayments from Haiti and grant complete debt cancellation to the impoverished nation. Haiti currently sends $1.6 million to the World Bank every month while thousands of Haitians starve and the nation struggles to fill a severe budget gap that threatens the struggling democracy’s stability.
The letter to President Zoellick was circulated by US Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) as well as Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee. The Representatives express deep concern about “the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Haiti and the difficulties Haiti has faced in qualifying for the cancellation of its debts.” “We understand that Haiti is scheduled to send approximately $20 million to the World Bank in 2009,” the letter reads, “Clearly, this money would be better spent on basic infrastructure and poverty reduction for the Haitian people.” Signers include 72 US Representatives from across the political spectrum, including Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Donald Payne (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA).
Download a PDF of the letter from Members of Congress to World Bank President Zoellick
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