Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Mari Carmen Aponte is in Haiti for 2 days (October 16 and 17) to appraise U.S. government humanitarian assistance to the Haiti-led response to communities affected by Hurricane Matthew. Marcela Escobari, Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, will accompany Acting Assistant Secretary Aponte to survey areas impacted by the storm as well as USAID's Disaster Assistance Response Team relief efforts in the field.

Carmen Aponte will meet with Government of Haiti officials and other stakeholders to reaffirm U.S. government support for transparent, credible, and peaceful elections in Haiti as well as completion of the electoral cycle at the earliest possible date permitted by conditions on the ground.

Let's recall that after the destruction and loss caused by Hurricane Matthew, the United States government has responded to help the people of Haiti. In full support of the Government of Haiti's response strategy, a civilian team of over fifty U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) disaster response experts is working hand-in-hand with Haitians and NGOs throughout the south to deliver an initial $1.3 million of supplies, which is going to communities in Haiti that have been impacted by the storm. USAID just announced an additional $12 million to support relief efforts.

The USAID DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) has called on the unique ability of the U.S. military to airlift these supplies to Les Cayes and Jeremie, as well as other hard to reach affected areas. To support the USAID DART, the Department of Defense has deployed over 400 military personnel https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18859-haiti-flash-300-us-marines-sent-as-reinforcements-in-haiti.html and 12 helicopters at the Port-au-Prince airport.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18875-haiti-usa-over-480-tons-of-us-aid.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18859-haiti-flash-300-us-marines-sent-as-reinforcements-in-haiti.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-18838-icihaiti-flash-usa-helicopters-and-us-soldiers-arrive-in-the-country.html

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre