United States Secretary of State John Kerry has notified the U.S. Congress that Haiti is taking steps to hold free and fair elections. This notification is required by law before the United States can allocate some funds to the Haitian government. His official statement was published in the Federal Register.

Notification Text

"DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notices: 8720]

Certification Related to the Government of Haiti Under Section

7045(D)(1) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related

Programs Appropriations Act, 2014 (Div. K, Pub. L. 113–76)

Pursuant to the authority vested in the HERE IT IS

Secretary of State, including under section 7045(d)(1) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2014 (Div. K, Pub. L. 113–76), I hereby certify that Haiti is taking steps to hold free and fair parliamentary elections and to seat a new Haitian Parliament; the Government of Haiti is respecting the independence of the judiciary; and the Government of Haiti is combating corruption and improving governance, including passage of the anticorruption law to enable prosecution of corrupt officials and implementing financial transparency and accountability requirements for government institutions.

This Certification shall be published in the Federal Register, and copies shall be transmitted to the appropriate committees of Congress.

John F. Kerry,

Secretary of State."

An important decision, especially that since January 2014, direct U.S. financial assistance to the Haitian Government (about 300 million), is conditional on the electoral process https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11010-haiti-politic-us-direct-aid-conditional-on-elections.html

Moreover, from Tuesday, Ambassador Thomas A. Shannon, a career diplomat and Adviser of John F. Kerry, will erform a two-day visit to Haiti. During his visit, he will meet with Haitian leaders and discuss the continued cooperation of the United States with Haiti. Note that this is Thomas A. Shannon, as Adviser that provides strategic guidance to the Secretary of State.

HL/ HaitiLibre