
With the latest news on the sanctions levied against Laurent Salvador Lamothe, the truth is barely coming out about one of the biggest case of corruption in the past hundred years. I say barely because the sixty million dollars that the United States government is claiming Lamothe stole from Haiti during the period when funds from the Petro Caribe program were stolen represents a small amount of what he really took away, like a common thief. Lamothe put his hand in Haiti’s coffer to the tune of at least 30 to 40 percent of the total amount stolen, which is nearly five billion dollars. Sixty million dollars probably represents a portion of what he paid banks to move the money out of Haiti, probably close to a billion dollars. Say he split the money, or probably gave a cut to former president Michel Martelly, that still leaves him with six or seven hundred million dollars. So the sixty million dollars mentioned in the accusations by U.S. government officials represent a small tip of the iceberg.
Laurent Salvador Lamothe is an international businessman with a checkered past, which involves a warrant for his arrest in Senegal from alleged corruption in 2010. Then Lamothe built a company that managed international calls for the African country in terms of fees collected. Soon Lamothe left Senegal in a rush before the authorities got their hands on him for corruption and theft. He was parachuted in Haiti shortly after by the United States, which tagged him with Martelly to run the country in a tandem of thieves, associated with the drug mafia that Martelly frequented.
The U.S. did not want Haiti to be part of Petro Caribe, and back in 2007 the State Department warned former President Preval not to enter in the agreement. We can safely say that Martelly and Lamothe were put in place to sabotage the agreement and dilapidate the funds garnered from the program. Hilary Clinton was adamant in wanting Michel Martelly selected as President of Haiti. Her husband Bill was put in charge of the ten to twelve billion dollars of the CIRH fund that Haiti received after the terrible earthquake of 2010. That money evaporated in a series of never finished plans, while the population got very little help. NGO personnel from the international community rode around in rented SUVs distributing drinking water and rice, while talking a great deal about this and that in countless meetings, spending a large amount of grant money from donors, while the persons affected languished in squalor, packed in lousy tents with no aeration, smelling their piss and turds.

By Alix Conde
Money from CIRH and Petro Caribe was stolen by administrations headed by at least four prime ministers and others in other ministries during the Preval, Martelly and Privert regimes. Now remember, you cannot travel on a plane with millions of dollars, nor can you drive to the Dominican Republic from Haiti with such large sums. And even if you did, once you arrive in the DR, you cannot keep millions of dollars under your mattress or in a box. The majority of money stolen from the CIRH and Petro Caribe funds had to be moved through banks in Haiti. When Michel Martelly claimed that UniBank lent him the money to build a house worth over six million dollars, officials from the bank said nothing. Not even a denial, or at least an explanation for their investors. The bank stayed silent, while persons wondered why a former president with no upcoming job could be granted such a large loan. The money stolen can be traced through banking transactions that were used to wash it, and transfer it to other banks abroad. A lot of property has been purchased in the United States, the Dominican Republic and some in Haiti. All those assets must be seized and returned to Haiti, and the persons in banks that were used must be arrested and jailed for their efforts. Banks abroad are also part of this theft, along with crooked officials in the United States and other places. These people in the U.S., Canada, and the Dominican Republic participated in the crime, and they should go to jail, and return money to Haiti. Hilary Clinton and her husband Bill need to explain many things, along with returning the money stolen from the CIRH fund with interest. Recent events have clearly shown how those thieving persons have hurt the country, with death and destruction because of the authorities not taking care of the environment.


Sad indeed that hundreds of our brothers and sisters in Haiti are victims of extreme flooding in many parts of the country. Many persons have lost their lives, while countless families are homeless due to the fury of water from heavy rain over the past days. Leogane is completely submerged, and footage of SUVs destroyed while floating in flood waters are on social networks showing the destruction. In Petit Goave water entered many homes, while Port-de-Paix and Jean Rabel in the Northwest were also flooded. Heavy rain all over the country during the weekend gave a warning of things to come with the hurricane season in sight.

All the problems we are facing in Haiti are worsening due to the governance of the past twelve years. Now persons are dying, nearly one hundred because of the heavy rain this past weekend. It’s time for mobilization to oust Ariel Henry and the forty thieves surrounding him. We must come together to build a movement that can bring a bright future with no Core Group and their minions. The path is clear, either we fight or we become pariahs to wander all over the world, with no home and no culture.