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Secretary of State Brian Nichols and U.N. official Helen Lalime are incompetent diplomats; Haitian-Americans request their resignation

9/10/2022

While other Haitian-American leaders are blaming the Core Group for their support of the Ariel government, the Ad Hoc Committee to Educate the Haitian American Community on U.S. Elections requests Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols's resignation who, since his appointment, has been violating countless U.S. and international laws, conventions, and norms.

While other Haitian-American leaders are blaming the Core Group for their support of the Ariel government, the Ad Hoc Committee to Educate the Haitian American Community on U.S. Elections requests Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols's resignation who, since his appointment, has been violating countless U.S. and international laws, conventions, and norms.

In a couple of letters to Victoria Nuland, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, a small but influential group of Haitian-Americans requests that Mr. Nichols resigned and be replaced by someone with experience in Haiti. Daniel Foote or Roberta Jacobson seem to be the most qualified for this position.

It is the first time that a group of Haitians have requested the resignation of a high level State Department official. Currently, most organizations are trying to get along with the State Department even though the community recognizes that the State Department is the primary entity responsible for Haiti’s situation. The members of the group think that if the Haitian-American community keeps the pressure on the State Department, the careers of the individuals in that department who are supporting Ariel Henry will take a turn for the worse. Although they don’t expect the Biden Administration to fire Nichols soon, they do expect some changes in the State Department after the 2022 midterm election. The group seems to be using strategies similar to the Jewish and Cuban communities. The major difference between those communities and the Haitian-American is that they have powerful political action committees to fund candidates and energize their electoral base.

The letters state that Mr. Nichols, supported by U.N. official Helen La Lime, instead of defending U.S. interests, deliberately empowers Ariel's government to become a growing threat to U.S. security. The signers of the letters further state that Mr. Nichols’s actions directly violate the PL 117-103 / Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Act and a number of other laws and regulations. Both letters claimed that Mr. Nichols supports a prime minister who appears to be involved in the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise and is arming gangs that massacred at least 450 innocent civilians in less than 72 hours. The first letter reminds Ms. Nuland of the kind of man Ariel is, and supporting him goes against the will of the Haitian people as their support provides ammunition to the federated gangs to continue terrorizing Haitians and Americans alike.

On another note, the Committee pointed out some interesting facts on Mr Nichols’ career. Not only did they highlight Mr. Nichols' poor performance in Haiti, but they also provide a long history of his failure to defend American interests as ambassador to Zimbabwe and Peru. His leadership deterred and drove President Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe to develop strategic partnerships with Russia and China to grant them the right to operate Zimbabwean lithium, diamond, and uranium mines. Moreover, as ambassador to Peru, he failed to broker investment in the copper mines deals with the Peruvian government and Indigenous Communities; these deals went to China instead.

The Ad Hoc Committee told the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs that if Mr. Nichols does not resign before the November election, Haitian-Americans will commit their vote to candidates who address the Haitian issue and will most likely sink the Democratic majority in Congress. The committee reminds the American government that the Haitian electorate was engaged and energized in 2020 when more than 60,000 Haitian Americans in Georgia voted to elect Senators Warnock and Ossoff to help the Democrats obtain a majority in the Senate. The members urged the government to not understand the voting power of Haitians-Americans who hold an attractive appeal and significant leverage in the 2022 midterm election and will ultimately influence the 2024 election. A new entity called CHAIR (Coalition of Haitian-American Independents and Republicans) is ensuring that the community becomes more valuable by encouraging Jaitian-Americans to switch or declare no party affiliation, register as Independents, or even Republicans instead of Democrats.

The letters do not only target Mr. Nichols; the committee also requested an investigation into the corrupt practices used by former Secretary Clinton to extract personal benefits from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Additionally, the Haitian American community demands political support for a constitutional (the legal government led by a Haiti Supreme Court Justice) or consensus-based (Montana or Louisiana Accords) transitional government to replace the illegal Ariel Henry government to take Haiti out of the crisis. Furthermore, they request a $3 billion financing package to create jobs in Haiti so that Haitians do not flock to the US Southern Border in increasing numbers. Additionally, the Haitian American community suggests appointing Haitian-Americans with long histories of defending U.S. interests as U.S. Special Envoys, U.S. ambassadors to Haiti, or U.N. Special Envoys to Haiti.

It appears that some US politicians have read the letter since four members of Congress recently wrote the president to request that he appoints a U.S. special envoy to Haiti. The Committee also wants to replace the U.S. Special Envoy, Helen La Lime, with a Haitian-American. In a second letter to Ms Nuland dated August 9, the Committee accused La Lime of being in the same category as Brian Nichols : incompetent diplomats. Certain members of the Committee who have access to some US Senators have learned that the State Department did not like the letters, especially the second one. But the Committee plans on keeping the pressure on the State Department. They are working on a third letter in which they will push Congress to take worthy actions.

To read the letter in full and supporting documents, email jeanmaurice1@yahoo.com

Bobb Rousseau, PhD

Bobb Rousseau
www.cecoyauniversity.com
www.medicpam.com

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Bobb Rousseau, PhD

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Secretary of State Brian Nichols and U.N. official Helen Lalime are incompetent diplomats; Haitian-Americans request their resignation

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