[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 94 (Friday, July 12, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RESTORE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO HAITI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 11, 2002

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western 
Hemisphere. Yet the U.S. government is blocking aid to Haiti in order 
to expand the influence of a single Haitian political party. This 
party, known as the Democratic Convergence, is supported by only a 
small fraction of the Haitian electorate. Nevertheless, the Democratic 
Convergence and the Organization of American States raised questions 
about the May 21, 2000, elections in Haiti.
  Meanwhile, Haiti's population is facing a serious humanitarian 
crisis. Haiti's per capita income is only $460 per year. Four percent 
of the population is infected with the AIDS virus, and 163,000 children 
have been orphaned by AIDS. Every year, there are 30,000 new AIDS 
cases. The infant mortality rate is over seven percent. For every 1000 
infants born in Haiti, five women die in childbirth. Furthermore, there 
are only 1.2 doctors for every 10,000 people in this desperately poor 
country.
  Not only has the United States suspended development assistance to 
Haiti, the United States has been blocking loans from international 
financial institutions such as the World Bank, the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank. U.S. 
policy has effectively prevented Haiti from receiving $146 million in 
loans from the Inter-American Development Bank that were already 
approved by that institution's Board of Directors. These loans are 
desperately needed by the people of Haiti.
  The Board of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank 
recently agreed to send a special mission to Haiti to review conditions 
for the renewal of lending to Haiti. This mission, which will take 
place later this month, is purely technical. Its purpose is twofold. 
First, the mission's participants will reassess past loans to Haiti 
that are in arrears. Second, they will assess current efforts by the 
Haitian government to resolve the political crisis. Unfortunately, 
there is no indication that participants in this mission will discuss 
conditions for the restoration of loans or development assistance to 
Haiti.
  President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has taken several steps to address 
the concerns raised by the international community regarding the May 
21, 2000, elections. Yet the U.S. government continues to refuse to 
negotiate with the Haitian government.
  It is time for the United States to end this political impasse and 
restore development assistance to this impoverished democracy.

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