NewsWhore
04-20-2009, 04:40 PM
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the island of Hispaniola on Thursday and Friday last week, making several announcements in support of education, sustainable agriculture and the fight against drug trafficking.
For Haiti, Secretary of State Clinton announced US$287 million in aid for 2009, primarily for road building projects. She also announced "a significant contribution towards the retirement of Haiti's debt to free up money the government can use on pressing needs, as well as helping the Haitian police to fight drug traffickers. "We wish to support food security and sustainable agriculture. We know Haiti used to be self-sufficient in agriculture, and we want to help Haiti achieve that status again," she said, speaking during her visit to Haiti.
"What we must do is to build up the means of sustainable production and distribution. For this, we must harness the power of agriculture to reduce hunger and drive economic growth. I can give you two examples. In the 1980s, as recently as then, Haiti was self-sufficient for food. It even exported. Today, it imports food. And anyone who has, as I have, flown across this great island going from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, you see starkly, the erosion, the lack of trees, the lack of cultivatable land. And then you cross the border and you see green."
Clinton said: "We want to work on sustainable agriculture. This is an area where the United States and the Dominican Republic will work very closely together. The Bilateral Commission will begin working on the issues. The United States stands ready to assist Haiti and to work with the Dominican Republic to provide a greater opportunity for the people of Haiti. This is a complex challenge, but we are very committed to working together and we think we can make a difference."
During her visit to Santo Domingo, she announced that the United States would add $12.5 million for the extension of the Center for Excellence for Teacher Training Program (CETT) to enhance teacher training, to work on school curricula and supplies, in mathematics, and in language instruction, to help with school governance. "This program is proving to be, in partnership with the Ministry of Education here, such a success that we're not only expanding it to 450 schools in the Dominican Republic, but we want the Dominican Republic to serve as the model for the expansion of this program throughout the region," she said. USAID, the DR Ministry of Higher Education and the PUCMM University are partners in this program.
She also addressed the issue of drug trafficking: "The third area is perhaps the most fundamental of all. It is hard for people to escape poverty or fulfill their potential when they're not physically safe in their homes and neighborhoods, their schools, their workplaces, or on the roads traveling for commerce or pleasure. So none of the advances that we make can be achieved without improvements in public safety and efforts to stem all forms of violence, including violence in the home. We all think about the violence that the drug traffickers bring with them, and this must be our highest priority. The United States must work to reduce demand for drugs and stem the flow of guns and drug profits traveling from our country for use in the drug trade.
"There are many aspects of fighting the drug gangs and the narco-traffickers that we have to address. On the supply side, we have to do a better job in the United States. But countries like the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and others, you must get on top of this supply issue very soon. Because what drug traffickers will do is try to get people in your country addicted to drugs, so that if times are tough or they want to make extra money, they don't just have to think about the American - the United States market. They can think about the market nearer to home, safer. So there must be a public outcry against the drug traffickers trying to addict young people in all of the countries of the region."
She also made the points: "Well, I have been very candid in saying that the United States shares responsibility for the upsurge in drug trafficking and related lawlessness and violence because of the big demands within the United States. And that is why we want to work closely together with the Government of the Dominican Republic to come up with a plan that will work. There will be an important meeting in - next month in the region to discuss how we can better coordinate our efforts, what the United States can contribute in the forms of assistance, training, equipping, logistics in respect to preventing the continuing efforts of the drug traffickers not only to peddle their drugs, but to corrupt officials, intimidate people, take over areas within countries if they are able to do so."
During her visit, she asked President Fernandez for increased cooperation with regional partners. "The United States is and will be investing millions of dollars in improved law enforcement, improved information gathering and sharing, improved judicial systems and public institutions throughout our hemisphere. The Dominican Republic is doing its part. President Fernandez is showing leadership. He will be hosting a public security meeting later this year so countries in our hemisphere can discuss together how we will fight the drug-fueled crime and lawlessness we face.
And I did ask President Fernandez to work with us and assume an even greater leadership position in the region to work with the Central American and Caribbean countries on all of these challenges and opportunities".
During her visit, Secretary Clinton spoke of her personal emotional ties to the island of Hispaniola. As a newlywed, she visited Haiti, and the DR was the setting for the first vacation the presidential couple took at the end of the Clinton administration.
www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/2009a/c29965.htm# (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/2009a/c29965.htm#)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121871.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121871.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121847.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121847.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121830.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121830.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121829.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121829.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121828.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121828.htm)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
For Haiti, Secretary of State Clinton announced US$287 million in aid for 2009, primarily for road building projects. She also announced "a significant contribution towards the retirement of Haiti's debt to free up money the government can use on pressing needs, as well as helping the Haitian police to fight drug traffickers. "We wish to support food security and sustainable agriculture. We know Haiti used to be self-sufficient in agriculture, and we want to help Haiti achieve that status again," she said, speaking during her visit to Haiti.
"What we must do is to build up the means of sustainable production and distribution. For this, we must harness the power of agriculture to reduce hunger and drive economic growth. I can give you two examples. In the 1980s, as recently as then, Haiti was self-sufficient for food. It even exported. Today, it imports food. And anyone who has, as I have, flown across this great island going from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, you see starkly, the erosion, the lack of trees, the lack of cultivatable land. And then you cross the border and you see green."
Clinton said: "We want to work on sustainable agriculture. This is an area where the United States and the Dominican Republic will work very closely together. The Bilateral Commission will begin working on the issues. The United States stands ready to assist Haiti and to work with the Dominican Republic to provide a greater opportunity for the people of Haiti. This is a complex challenge, but we are very committed to working together and we think we can make a difference."
During her visit to Santo Domingo, she announced that the United States would add $12.5 million for the extension of the Center for Excellence for Teacher Training Program (CETT) to enhance teacher training, to work on school curricula and supplies, in mathematics, and in language instruction, to help with school governance. "This program is proving to be, in partnership with the Ministry of Education here, such a success that we're not only expanding it to 450 schools in the Dominican Republic, but we want the Dominican Republic to serve as the model for the expansion of this program throughout the region," she said. USAID, the DR Ministry of Higher Education and the PUCMM University are partners in this program.
She also addressed the issue of drug trafficking: "The third area is perhaps the most fundamental of all. It is hard for people to escape poverty or fulfill their potential when they're not physically safe in their homes and neighborhoods, their schools, their workplaces, or on the roads traveling for commerce or pleasure. So none of the advances that we make can be achieved without improvements in public safety and efforts to stem all forms of violence, including violence in the home. We all think about the violence that the drug traffickers bring with them, and this must be our highest priority. The United States must work to reduce demand for drugs and stem the flow of guns and drug profits traveling from our country for use in the drug trade.
"There are many aspects of fighting the drug gangs and the narco-traffickers that we have to address. On the supply side, we have to do a better job in the United States. But countries like the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and others, you must get on top of this supply issue very soon. Because what drug traffickers will do is try to get people in your country addicted to drugs, so that if times are tough or they want to make extra money, they don't just have to think about the American - the United States market. They can think about the market nearer to home, safer. So there must be a public outcry against the drug traffickers trying to addict young people in all of the countries of the region."
She also made the points: "Well, I have been very candid in saying that the United States shares responsibility for the upsurge in drug trafficking and related lawlessness and violence because of the big demands within the United States. And that is why we want to work closely together with the Government of the Dominican Republic to come up with a plan that will work. There will be an important meeting in - next month in the region to discuss how we can better coordinate our efforts, what the United States can contribute in the forms of assistance, training, equipping, logistics in respect to preventing the continuing efforts of the drug traffickers not only to peddle their drugs, but to corrupt officials, intimidate people, take over areas within countries if they are able to do so."
During her visit, she asked President Fernandez for increased cooperation with regional partners. "The United States is and will be investing millions of dollars in improved law enforcement, improved information gathering and sharing, improved judicial systems and public institutions throughout our hemisphere. The Dominican Republic is doing its part. President Fernandez is showing leadership. He will be hosting a public security meeting later this year so countries in our hemisphere can discuss together how we will fight the drug-fueled crime and lawlessness we face.
And I did ask President Fernandez to work with us and assume an even greater leadership position in the region to work with the Central American and Caribbean countries on all of these challenges and opportunities".
During her visit, Secretary Clinton spoke of her personal emotional ties to the island of Hispaniola. As a newlywed, she visited Haiti, and the DR was the setting for the first vacation the presidential couple took at the end of the Clinton administration.
www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/2009a/c29965.htm# (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/2009a/c29965.htm#)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121871.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121871.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121847.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121847.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121830.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121830.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121829.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121829.htm)
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121828.htm (http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/04/121828.htm)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)