Politics
Martelly to host Oprah Winfrey
Haitian President Michel Martelly said Friday he will host Oprah Winfrey when she visits the Caribbean nation.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the Haiti leader said he would like to see Winfrey promote the troubled nation’s lesser known attributes to outside investors as it struggles to recover from the 2010 earthquake that threw hundreds of thousands people into makeshift camps.
Martelly said he planned to meet with Winfrey on Monday.
“I am hoping she will serve as an ambassador for Haiti, to help us get the kind of assistance needed,” Martelly said at a trade summit for Caribbean leaders.
Winfrey is expected to arrive in Haiti on Sunday evening and on Monday visit a settlement camp for displaced people run by Hollywood actor Sean Penn and his aid group J/P HRO. She is also expected to meet with fashion designer Donna Karan, who has celebrated the work of Haiti’s artisans through her Urban Zen Foundation since the quake.
Chance Patterson, a spokesman for Winfrey’s Harpo Studios, couldn’t be reached for comment Friday night.
The interview with Martelly came on the second day of the Caricom-Cuba summit, an effort aimed at encouraging cooperation among Caribbean nations and advocating for their interests.
