The Third Senatorial Delegation

Three senators making the case for democracy, institution-building, normalization, and good governance; and suggesting ways the United States can use its influence to help bring these about. In the present juncture, they urge prompt confirmation of a prime minister and formation of a pluralist government—a national union with a strategic plan to rebuild the country over the long term and eliminate instability. In their meetings with American officials, the senators will suggest how the United States can translate its generous funding of elections into the achievement of honest ones, such as in 2006 but generally not since. The senators are joined by a political party leader and a distinguished special envoy of President Martelly.

 

 

 

 

 

  

March 5–7, 2012

Delegation Members

  1. Sen. Rudolph H. Boulos (Alternative, Nord’Est). Founding board member of the Haiti Democracy Project
  2. Sen. Francisco Delacruz (Alternative, Centre)
  3. Sen. Mélius Hyppolite (OPL, Nord’Ouest)
  4. Prof. Sauveur Pierre Etienne, coordinator of OPL
  5. Richard Morse, special envoy of President Martelly

Alternative. A coalition of the Fusion of Social Democrats Party, OPL, and others acronymed KID and PANPRA.
. L’organisation du peuple en lutte, organization of the people in struggle. Founded in the 1990s by the sociologist Gérard Pierre-Charles as the Lavalas Political Organization. It began as the party of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide but split off in 1997.

Senator Rudolph H. Boulos (Alternative, Nord-Est). Founding member of Haiti Democracy Project. Leading businessman who has participated in reformist politics since 2005. Before that, he devoted himself to NGOs in health and education in Cité Soleil and the Northeast. Elected senator in 2006, elected vice-president of the senate in 2008. In the rough-and-tumble of Haitian politics, the senate voted to expel him over a nationality issue on March 18, 2008. Courts in Fort-Liberté and Port-de-Paix ruled that he was still legally senator. His term expires in May 2012. Born April 28, 1951.

Senator Mélius Hyppolite. (Organisation du peuple en lutte, OPL, Nord-Ouest). He worked with NGOs in the Northwest helping the peasant organizations survive and improve their technique. He studied at the social-sciences department of the University of Haiti.
• Project director of Oxfam-U.K. in Haiti, (1986-1993)
• Member of personal cabinet of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1992-93)
• Minister-counsellor, embassy of Haiti in the Dominican Republic (1994-97)
• Departmental coordinator, OPL, in the Northwest Department (1997-2000)
• Coordinator of the Research and Action Group for the Development of the Northwest Department’s Far West (Groupe de Recherches et d’Action pour le Développement dans le Far West, GRAF), 2002-2005.
• Elected senator 2006

Born March 13, 1950, in Mole Saint Nicolas.

Senator Francisco Délacruz (Alternative, Centre). A physician by profession. From Lospalis, Central Plateau. The founder of COSADH, an NGO focused on coordinating public health and development services in the Central Plateau. He graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and also studied public health system management in France. Born September 1, 1966.

Sauveur Pierre Etienne, coordinator of the Organisation de Peuple en Lutte (OPL) party. A scholar with twenty years in party-building under the leadership of the celebrated sociologist Gérard Pierre-Charles, party founder. It was originally the party of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Etienne has spent the last twelve years studying in Mexico, Canada, France, and the United States to better prepare for Haitian modernization.
• Ph.D. in political science from the University of Montréal.
• Postdoctoral researcher at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales de Paris (EHESS-CNRS).
• B.A. in communications, State University of Haiti
• M.A. in developmental science, State University of Haiti.
• M.A. in social science from the Latin American School of Social Sciences (Mexico City)
• Sociology professor at the State University of Haiti.

His books include:

• Haïti : l’invasion des ONG, Montréal, CIDIHCA, 1997
• Haïti : misère de la démocratie, Paris, L’Harmattan, 1999
• L’énigme haïtienne : échec de l’État moderne en Haïti, Montréal, Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2007
• Haïti, la République dominicaine et Cuba : État, économie et société (1492-2009), Paris, l’Harmattan, 2011.

His current interest is social evolution of the state in the Caribbean, particularly the factors making for failed states in the region.

Richard Morse, special envoy in Washington of President Michel Martelly. A noted hotelier and musician in Haiti, he is

  • Creator and inspiritor of the wildly-popular RAM band in Haiti, noted for its revival of traditional Haitian music
  • Preserver in difficult circumstances of the storied Oloffson Hotel, the actual setting for Graham Greene’s classic The Comedians
  • Participant in Twenty-Sixth Business Delegation of Haiti Democracy Project
  • Participant in our Haiti Study Group, June 18, 2009