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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 Dear Editor
This is one of the most sordid stories on alleged corruption involving a 2016 US presidential candidate foundation and Haiti's largest private investor Digicel lead by its CEO at the time Damion Blackburn on the vulnerable people of Haiti. Because in this case, an entire country that was already one of the world's poorest nations suffered a terrifying disaster with Digicel and this US based "Foundation" was only too happy to act like saviors while taking advantage of the poor people of Haiti at their greatest hour of need.
The "Foundation" played a major role in recovery efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. A former US President was the public face of the U.S. efforts in Haiti through several recovery roles. He was the United Nations special envoy to Haiti and co-chairman of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, a quasi-government planning body that approved hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. government-funded recovery projects.
February 24th, 2015, the former US President was a guest at the luxury Marriot Hotel in Port-au-Prince Haiti to celebrate the opening. Like most foreign-backed projects in Haiti, the "Foundation" was the key player in its development. And like most projects involving the "Foundation", a shady crony was running the show. You got it right, the crony was Digicel.
The 175- room hotel is owned by Digicel Group which is owned by Denis O'brien who lives in Malta to avoid taxes. During this time Digicel Haiti was ran by, you guessed, Damion Blackburn. Digicel, the largest mobile provider in Haiti, invested $45 million in the hotel construction project, which also benefited from $26.5 million dollars in financing from the World Bank- affiliated International Finance Corporation. But it was the "Foundation" that helped to make it all happen.
As Peter Schweizer documents in his latest book, Digicel received millions in US tax dollars from USAID, an agency overseen by the State Department, as part of the Haiti Mobile Mobile Initiative. The program was designed to establish a mobile money transfer system that would allow individuals to send donations directly to friends and relatives in Haiti.
Digicel also aided tremendously by the USAID Food for Peace program, which was under the direct control of affiliates from the "Foundation", to administer money transfer over Digicel mobile network. Haitians received cell phones and a free Digicel account; Digicel received grants courtesy of US taxpayers, collected millions in fees from Haitians every time they use the mobile system, which in a very sneaky way significantly expanded its user base.
Signed
Troy Smith
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