NGO Statement in Support of Daniel Foote Briefing
Today a 2:00 pm former Special Envoy to Haiti, Ambassador Daniel Foote is scheduled to brief the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It is important that the members of this committee hear what the diplomat has to say about U.S. policies in Haiti. Ambassador Foote resigned as the State Department’s Special Envoy to Haiti on September 21, 2021.
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Ambassador Foote’s resignation letter noted that the U.S. "policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed.” It explained:
[W]hat our Haitian friends really want, and need, is the opportunity to chart their own course, without international puppeteering . . . . Last week, the U.S. and other embassies in Port-au-Prince issued another public statement of support for the unelected, de facto Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry as interim leader of Haiti, and have continued to tout his political agreement over another broader, earlier accord shepherded by civil society. The hubris that makes us believe we should pick the winner - again - is impressive. This cycle of international political interventions in Haiti has consistently produced catastrophic results. More negative impacts to Haiti will have calamitous consequences not only in Haiti, but in the U.S. and our neighbors in the hemisphere.
Ambassador Foote also criticized the “inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees….”
As organizations that collaborate with Haitians working to advance democracy and human rights in their country, we share Ambassador Foote’s critique of international political interventions that have contributed to Haiti’s current crisis. More importantly, so do our Haitian collaborators and a broad spectrum of Haitian society. We believe that the House Foreign Affairs Committee briefing is essential for the Committee to fulfill its role of oversight over U.S. foreign policy and the operations of the Department of State. We also believe that a public briefing can help shape U.S. policies that will support a democratic, sustainable, Haitian-led solution to the current political crisis.
We urge the House Foreign Affairs Committee to pay particular attention to Ambassador Foote’s concern that the U.S. government is inappropriately supporting Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s political agreement over a broader, earlier accord shepherded by Haiti’s civil society. We also note that the Committee heard directly from Haitian civil society members during a productive March 12 briefing, and urge the Committee to continue to engage directly with Haitian civil society representatives.
Ansara Family Fund
Beyond Borders
Build Health International
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Defend Haiti Democracy
Global Justice Clinic, Washington Square Legal Services
GOALS Haiti
Haiti Dream Keeper Archives
Haiti H2O: Hope to Opportunity
Haiti Response Coalition
Haitian Bridge Alliance
Haitian United Front of the Haitian Diaspora
Haitian-American Diaspora Council (HADiC)
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
Li Li LI Read
Massachusetts Communities Action Network
Partners In Health
Project Blueprint
Quixote Center
Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center
The Haitian Women’s Collective
UndocuBlack Network
