Diaspora remembers the man nominated for Prime Minister

Laurent Lamothe, 39, is the latest nominee pegged to replace Dr. Garry Conille as Prime Minister of Haiti. Although currently Haiti's foreign minister, it is Lamothe's strong connection to Miami that has won him much support among South Florida's Haitian-American Diaspora.

Miami resident Madelline Savoy remembers Lamothe as a gifted academic who left Haiti with high grades to pursue a bachelor's degree at Barry University.

"I recall him as a keen, analytical and articulate student, a gentleman and a people person, but although he was a political science student he never expressed any political ambition," said Savoy.

After graduating in 1996, Lamothe pursued a master's degree in business management at St. Thomas University. An associate of Lamothe at St. Thomas said he showed promise as an "outstanding entrepreneur."

In 1998, Lamothe founded Global Voice Group – a South Africa based Telecommunications Company that gained international success. In 2008 the international accounting firm Ernst and Young named Lamothe Entrepreneur of the Year.

Simon, a Port-au-Prince civil servant and acquaintance of Lamothe, said he wasn't surprised about Lamothe's appointment to Martelly's Cabinet, but was surprised he was assigned to foreign affairs instead of finance or commerce, because "Lamothe has an outstanding reputation as a strong businessman."

Former president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, allegedly faces federal investigations in the Haiti Teleco bribery case on trial in Miami, according to the Miami Herald.

The identification of another high-profile official for corruption however may set fire to the growing but yet unsuccessful "Bad for Business" argument, where companies justify bribing as simply following the social norms of places like the Caribbean, where, they argue, bribery is commonplace.

The argument was used in the same indictment against four South Florida business people and two former Haitian government officials for bribing the troubled government-owned telecommunications company, Haiti Teleco. Miami businesses Cinergy Telecommunications and Uniplex Telecom Technologies reportedly gave about $2.3 million to officials through kickbacks, with Aristide allegedly among those unnamed officials. Aristide however has not been charged.

Before charges were dropped against Cinergy for being "non-operational," Cinergy's lawyer Joel Hirschhorn used the "Bad for Business" argument, calling on University of Miami School of Law professor Edgardo Rotman to "discuss the corporate culture of Third World countries and...address the manner in which businesses, such as Telecommunication D'Haiti, (Teleco Haiti), are operated in Haiti."

"My clients' dealings with Haiti Teleco were perfectly legitimate," argued Hirschhorn. "They helped Haiti Teleco get through some very difficult and trying times."

UPDATE: Preident Michel Martelly had reportedly chosen Laurent Lamothe to replace Garry Conille as Prime Minister. Currently a closer advisor to the president, he previously lived in Miami, and is also an alum of Barry University and St. Thomas University. Lamothe is 39.

Haitians in Port-au-Prince describe an "air of political tension" in the wake of Prime Minister Garry Conille's resignation last week. Reactions to Conille's resignation have become deeply divided among the public.

If Conille had not resigned "he surely would have been fired by Martelly," argues a Haitian bank-officer in Port-au-Prince, as Conille was "really opposing Martelly, the man who placed him in this high position, too openly." The bank official believes Haiti needs "total, full cooperation between all members of government. This wasn't happening with Conille, so I'm not unhappy Conille resigned. However, the real problem is now for Martelly to get someone who supports him to be approved quickly by the Senate."

Another Port-au-Prince resident, 'Beau,' believes Conille was forced out as "neither Martelly nor the government ministers agreed with him." Beau also fears that "bad things could happen" as both former presidents Bertrand Aristide and Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier "have supporters all over the country." Beau isn't sure Martelly can handle "the pressure" and said some Haitians have no opposition to the international community intervening in Haiti to "create a stable administration, or else there could be a serious crisis."

Just this past Wednesday, according to reports thousands of Aristide's supporters gathered in protest on the anniversary of Aristide's ousting to demand more action from Presdient Martelly. 

The Little Haiti Chapter of the Miami Music Project Orchestral Academy will celebrate their brand new donations of music instruments with a special "Pass it On Open House" performance on Tuesday, March 6, at 5 pm at Toussaint L'ouverture Elementary.

The budding Little Haiti Chapter orchestra, based at Toussaint L'ouverture Elementary, will share an open class with audiences and later join their peers from the Doral chapter for a performance.

"We were so excited to see more than 60 children sign up on our opening day in Little Haiti," said Anna Pietraszko, Executive Director of Miami Music Project. "We are now even happier to see the tremendous progress made by these children, in such a short time, and the growing number of children who want to participate in our programs."

The Miami Music Project Orchestral Academy (MMPOA) is dedicated to enriching the lives of Miami's children through the study and appreciation of classical music. The program, modeled after the Venezuelan "El Sistema," believes that the discipline and dedication required in music can empower young lives and spark social change in underserved communities. Young musicians learn their craft in a communal environment, including orchestra participation, group lessons and peer teaching. Today the program now serves close to 300 children, free of charge, every week in Little Haiti and Doral.