|
| Correspond with us, including our executive editor, professor
Yves A. Isidor, via electronic mail: |
| letters@wehaitians.com |
| Want to send this page or a link to a
friend? Click on mail at the top of this window. |
 Must
learndly read, too; in part, of intellectual rigor; in part, the repository of ultimate
knowledge
|
| Posted Saturday, March 10, 2007 |
| Venezuelan President Chavez to visit Haiti |
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Mar. 9, 2007 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has offered
assistance and oil benefits to much of the Caribbean, will meet with Haitian President
Rene Preval to discuss providing aid to the impoverished country, Preval's office said
Friday.
 |
| Venenezuela's President Hugo Chavez raises his fist during a rally
against the ongoing visit to several Latin American countries by U.S. President George W.
Bush, Friday, March 9, 2007 in Buenos Aires. Chavez is in a two-day visit in Argentina.
(AP Photo/Daniel Luna) |
Chavez is scheduled to arrive in the capital of Port-au-Prince for a one-day meeting
Monday, Haiti's National Palace said in a statement.
Venezuela's state-run development bank said this week it will create a $20 million fund
to provide humanitarian aid to Haiti and develop joint cooperation projects. The money
will pay for health care, education, housing and other basic necessities sorely lacking in
the Caribbean nation of 8 million.
Haiti also benefits from Chavez's Petrocaribe initiative, which provides petroleum
products and other aid to needy Caribbean countries to help them counter rising energy
prices. Recipients are offered deferred payment and long-term financing for fuel
shipments.
Petrocaribe is widely seen as an effort by Chavez ong at odds with Washington
— to make inroads in a region where the United States is a major trading
partner.
Chavez has said Venezuela will help its Caribbean neighbors fight widespread poverty
and other social problems. Last month, Chavez visited the tiny Caribbean nations of
Dominica and St. Vincent, where he toured the fuel facilities and public works projects
his government has built.
| Wehaitians.com, the scholarly journal of
democracy and human rights |
