ARTICLE - LAMOTHE AT AMERICAS SUMMIT

LAURENT LAMOTHE AT THE 6TH SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS IN HAITI
(Haiti Libre) -

President Michel Martelly, canceled, on the recommendation of his doctors, his visit to Cartagena, Colombia where he was to attend the 6th Summit of the Americas on 14 and 15 April 2012. His doctors have found that despite his good form, it would be prudent for the President to continue his physical therapy and take a few extra days for a safe and complete recovery following his operation on his right shoulder, Thursday, April 5.

President Martelly, regrets not being able to make this important travel and will be represented at this 6th Summit by Laurent Lamothe, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, also the Prime Minister-designate.

President Martelly will not be the only one absent from this summit. Hugo Chávez (Venezuela President) also canceled his visit for health reasons, and Rafael Correa (President of Ecuador) and Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua's President) decided on their side, to boycott this 6th Summit in Solidarity with Cuba...

The Summit of the Americas, organized by the Organization of American States (OAS) is this year dedicated to the integration and the economic prosperity of the region, which will allow Laurent Lamothe to promote the concept of Business Diplomacy for the development of Haiti. Several issues will be discussed at this Sixth Summit, among others: the controversial proposal to decriminalize cocaine advocated by Guatemala, and the idea of a reintegration of Cuba into the Summit of the Americas, provided that this country adheres to the Democratic Charter of the organization.

Laurent Lamothe declared "[...] We are very happy to be here, and we have several meetings that we will have with various leaders of the region, and this will be an opportunity for us, once again, to reaffirm our solidarity and brotherhood to several countries in the zone [...] We will work diligently so that we can attain the various aid and assistance that many of these countries have promised [...] we will ask them, so that we have a lasting and sustainable development, and that they help us in the investment strategy for Haiti..."

"Yesterday we arrived at the Summit of the Americas, we participated in a meeting with all the Foreign Ministers to discuss the agenda, and of what the Presidents should review and sign [...] We had a tripartite meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Venezuela and the one from Argentina to discuss a trilateral agreement with Haiti as part of agricultural development. Venezuela will finance the purchase of tractors for our peasants, as part of the agricultural recovery program, and allow our peasants to have the necessary equipment for a better production. After, we attended a reception where were present President Obama and other Presidents and Foreign Ministers.

This morning [Saturday] we started with a meeting with members of Caricom. We will then have a second meeting with Caricom and Canada for the opening and the launch of the session of the Summit of the Americas [...]"

After the meeting with Caricom and Canada, Chancellor Lamothe declared: "we return from an important meeting between Caricom and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada. We discussed several topics of general interest [...] Caricom has formally requested [to Candada] to renew their financial support for the representation of Caricom in Haiti in order to share with Canada and Caricom, Haiti's integration into this organization.

Haiti seeks to have much more international partners,and business partners for investment, and to do so, the Caricom representative office in Haiti, is working on aspects of our country's competitiveness, to ensure that Haiti is ready to attract foreign investment, especially investment of Caricom countries. Therefore, we have worked on this, we have promoted Haiti, and in this sense, the Prime Minister of Canada was very pleased.

Globally, I think that the meeting went well, and now, we will go to the official opening of the Summit of the Americas, where we will do our best to defend the interests of Haiti [...]"