Before leaving Haiti this Friday, for his tour in Venezuela and Panama, the President Michel Martelly, who led a delegation composed of : Laurent Lamothe, the Foreign Minister, Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism and Michael Lecorps, the Director General of the Office of Monetization of Development Aid Programs, gave some details to the press about the purpose of this tour.

"...it is to strengthen Haiti's relations with these countries but also to promote the fundamental interests of the Haitian people in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. During the visit to Venezuela I would participate in the meeting of ALBA is the Bolivarian Alliance for the people of our America, whose Haiti is so far observer. ALBA is a commercial agreement concluded in 2005 o facilitate the interaction between some countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, the largest member states of this organization are : Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica , Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela.

Haiti already benefits largely on the cooperation of ALBA through the Tripartite Agreement Venezuela-Cuba-Haiti. During this meeting Haiti will examine with member countries, the possibility of adopting a memorandum of understanding for the regularization of illegal Haitian immigrant, living in member countries of ALBA. We also intend to address the following points :

- The negotiation of a bank of inputs in the framework of ALBA

- Strengthening and revival of the school canteen, which now suffers from a lack of funds

- The financial support to the new project "Aba grangou", launched on January 24

On February 5, we will make with the delegation, a trip to Panama, following an official invitation from President Panamanian, Ricardo Martinelli, the specific objectives of this visit are :

- On the political order : to strengthen relations between the two countries and the fundamental rights of Haitian nationals living in Panama; enforce the reduction of visa fees for Haitian merchants, which now amounts to $1,000, and that the Panamanian President has promised to reduce to $50.

- On the economic order : strengthening economic relations between the two countries also strengthen cultural relations between the two countries. We will also explore with the Panamanian authorities, the possibility of cooperation in the field of tourism.

Finally, we will discuss with the President Ricardo Martinelli of the possibility of organizing in Haiti in July 2012, the 5th Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)."

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4870-haiti-politic-martelly-on-tour-in-venezuela-and-panama.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4869-haiti-news-some-news-here-and-there.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4693-haiti-politic-martelly-evokes-the-possibility-to-become-a-full-member-of-alba.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2967-haiti-humanitarian-chavez-repay-his-debt-to-haiti-by-maintaining-his-assistance.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2480-haiti-health-cuba-gave-an-update-on-its-efforts-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4803-haiti-social-the-couple-martelly-officially-launched-the-program-aba-grangou-speech.html

HL/ HaitiLibre