Hillary Clinton to visit Haiti

Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would travel to Haiti on Saturday to assess the catastrophic situation first-hand as the country was devastated by a major earthquake earlier this week.

This would be the first high-level visit by a top Obama Administration official after the earthquake hit Haiti, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people. Clinton would be accompanied by US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Rajiv Shah, the highest ranking Indian American in the presidential administration.

In Haiti, Clinton said she would be meeting Haitian President Rene Preval and other members of the government, along with members of the American government team on the
ground.

"We will also be conveying very directly and personally to the Haitian people our long-term, unwavering support, solidarity and sympathies, to reinforce President Obama's message yesterday that they are not facing this crisis alone," she told reporters at the State Department.

"I will be taking supplies with me, and I will be taking some people who will stay on the ground there. This is a convenient, efficient way to get both into Haiti. I will be bringing out some American citizens who are waiting for evacuation. So there are some very tangible reasons for this," she said.  "It has been my experience over many years now that those of us here who have a lot of the responsibility for executing our policy, you know, including myself, Dr Shah, counselor Mills and others, really can add to our understanding and cut through any misunderstanding that might be afoot by face-to-face contact," Clinton said.

"It also gives us a chance to report back to our international partners as well. I've spoken to a number of foreign ministers and heads of state who are asking questions about how things are operating and what they can do to contribute. It just gives you a level of credibility in this
implementation phase that we're finding ourselves in," she said.

Terming it as a very tough situation in Haiti, the Secretary of State said that's why the US is trying to move as quickly as possible to remedy the underlying causes that might give rise to people being desperate.

"It is just a race against time. It's a race against time in the search-and-rescue missions. It is a race against time to establish some means for clearing the roads so that more supplies can get in," she said.

Clinton said Haiti has suffered enormously over the course of its existence from all kinds of factors -- some of them poor governance; some of it interference by other countries that set back all kinds of opportunities for forward progress; some of it by just the battering of nature.

"A country that had four hurricanes last year and a devastating earthquake this year has certainly got more than its share of problems," she said.