Francois reported that the prime minister was due to meet former Senator Bob Dole during the morning of 6 May. After that Latortue was going to meet Luigi Einaudi, the assistant secretary-general of the OAS, and pay a visit to the Permanent Council of the OAS. Later that day Latortue was due to have meetings with the deputy managing director of the IMF and with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. After that he was due to meet the administrator of USAID and other meetings were planned with the head of the Inter-American Development Bank , Enrique Iglesias, and with World Bank Director James D. Wolfensohn.
Francois said that 5 May had also been a busy day for the Latortue during his first visit to Washington as prime minister. Francois said Latortue wanted to issue three important messages: first, he wanted to ask for urgent budget aid for Haiti. The second message concerned the necessity for Congress to pass the HERO Act, which could generate more than 100,000 jobs in the textile sector in Haiti. The third message concerned his government’s firm commitment to facilitate the holding of free general elections in the country in 2005.
So far, Francois said, the prime minister had already met Secretary of State Colin Powell. They discussed the situation in Haiti and Powell reaffirmed Washington’s full support for the country. Latortue had also met the minority and majority leaders in the US Senate as well as representatives involved with the Haiti issue. He also spoke to businessmen from the American continent as well as the Caribbean. The prime minister also spoke to Senator Michael DeWine, a strong supporter of the HERO Act.
Francois also reported a meeting between Prime Minister Latortue and several members of the Black Caucus. He met Senator Bob Graham as well as Senator Christopher Dodd. According to Senator Dodd, the Bush administration should release funds to Haiti very rapidly, because of the financial difficulties the Haitian government is facing.