Haitian President René Préval pleaded Wednesday for U.S. help plugging a multimillion-dollar budget gap caused by the Jan. 12 earthquake but said he got a cool reception from congressional leaders wary of handing over cash.
Préval, who arrived in Washington on Monday night, said that his government's revenue plunged 80 percent after the earthquake and that the losses would blast a $350 million hole in Haiti's budget this year.
"We are facing some urgency now. We are 1 million people living in the street," Préval told reporters and editors at The Washington Post.
The earthquake was the worst natural disaster in the Western Hemisphere in decades, killing more than 230,000 people and destroying much of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital and home to one-third of the country's 9 million people. The U.S. government has pledged more than $700 million in disaster aid, part of a flood of international assistance.
Préval said little of that money has gone to his government. For years, the United States and many other donors have preferred to channel funds through the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations, citing concerns about corruption and bureaucratic dysfunction.
Préval was in Washington to brief the Obama administration on the relief operation and Haiti's needs. U.S. officials have been anxious to hear about his plans ahead of an international donors' conference on March 31 that could be pivotal in launching the reconstruction of the impoverished nation. Congressional officials say they expect the White House to request up to $3 billion in a special package for Haiti's rebuilding.
Préval appeared more focused Wednesday on short-term problems -- providing shelter for those living in the ruins as Haiti's rainy season approaches, and getting seed to farmers in time for spring planting.
Source: Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post
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