Clinton and Bush to Visit Haiti to Attract Aid, Investments
David Sessions
Washington Reporter
Posted:
03/22/10
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will visit Haiti on Monday, their first joint trip to the earthquake-ravaged nation since President Obama selected them to lead the U.S. aid effort, the Washington Post reports. The former presidents will tour the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where over 1 million earthquake survivors are living in squalid makeshift camps.
The two presidents have shaped Haiti's recent history. When Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the country's first democratically elected president, was ousted in 1991, Clinton deployed 20,000 U.S. troops and forcibly returned him to power. Bush, on the other hand, chartered the plane that flew Aristide back into exile after a rebellion in 2004. (Aristide supporters planned to protest on Monday.)
Thus far, the nonprofit Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has raised $37 million from 220,000 donors. Two of the most prominent contributors include actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who gave $1 million, and President Obama, who contributed $200,000 of the money he received for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The two presidents have shaped Haiti's recent history. When Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the country's first democratically elected president, was ousted in 1991, Clinton deployed 20,000 U.S. troops and forcibly returned him to power. Bush, on the other hand, chartered the plane that flew Aristide back into exile after a rebellion in 2004. (Aristide supporters planned to protest on Monday.)
Thus far, the nonprofit Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has raised $37 million from 220,000 donors. Two of the most prominent contributors include actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who gave $1 million, and President Obama, who contributed $200,000 of the money he received for the Nobel Peace Prize.