In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti

In Show of Support, Clinton Goes to Haiti

- Mark Landler, New York Times.
Bearing soap, bottled water and other much-needed supplies, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew into this ruined capital on Saturday and told the Haitian people that the United States “will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead.” As the United States struggles to organize a relief effort for a barely functioning Haitian government, Mrs. Clinton said she was here at the invitation of the country’s president and came in large part to hear his thoughts on what was needed. Mrs. Clinton arrived shortly before 3 p.m. on a Coast Guard cargo plane that also carried American relief workers. She met for an hour with the Haitian president, René Préval, and with American officials managing an immense rescue effort that is racing against the clock to unearth any remaining survivors. “We are here at the invitation of your government to help you,” she said to Haitian journalists outside a makeshift headquarters. “I know of the great resilience and strength of the Haitian people,” said Mrs. Clinton, who in the past visited the country with her husband when they were newlyweds. “You have been severely tested, but I believe that Haiti can come back even stronger and better in the future.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/world/am....html?ref=world