Haitian Lawyer Lays Out Haiti Policy Agenda For Obama Team

[struggle4progress]

CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Jan. 20, 2009: ...

Marguerite 'Ezili Dantò' Laurent, President of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, is urging Obama to grant temporary protected status to Haitians living undocumented in the U.S.

She also wants a cancellation of all Haitian debt and the start of fair trading with Haiti. `It is in the best interest of the United States to directly support Haitian democracy, good governance, development, self-reliance and self-sufficiency,` states Laurent. `This cannot be done if the Haitian government has to compete with foreign funded NGOs and charities who are not elected or accountable to the people of Haiti, but are predatory and promoting dependency and their own organizations' interests for self-perpetuation in Haiti.`

Laurent also wants the U.S. Congress and the next President to `support the institutionalization of Haitian laws, not USAID/IRI/NED `democracy enhancement` projects that promote coup d'etat, instability and financial colonialism and containment-in-poverty in Haiti through neo-liberalism - `free trade` , `globalization` and other such `privatization` - schemes.`

And she called for an end to occupation of Haiti by UN military troops ...

http://www.caribbeanworldnews.com/middle_top_news_detai...

[Judi Lynn]

1. Why would anyone attempt to argue with her logic? I hope they won't choose to ignore it, instead.

From the article:

As Laurent summarized: `The Obama candidacy promised change and a return to the rule of law and diplomacy … To grant Haitians TPS, end the UN military occupation, assist Haiti with poverty reduction, domestic agricultural investments, community policing, cancel unfair debt to international financial institutions, all would support stability, participatory democracy, stop the flow of refugees and illegal immigration and meet the policy interests of the United States.`

Marguerite 'Ezili Dantò' Laurent