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Month After Haiti Criticism Revealed, Chelsea Clinton Praises Relief Effort

Chelsea said relief effort ‘profoundly disturbed’ her in private email

Chelsea Clinton / AP
October 6, 2015

Chelsea Clinton praised the man who heads the Clinton Global Initiative’s Haiti Action Network during the group’s annual meeting last month despite her major concerns about a Haiti relief effort led by her family.

Introducing the Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien to the stage for a panel on the Haiti Action Network, Clinton celebrated his "dogged commitment" to Haiti and said CGI was "grateful to be a part of" his work.

Clinton’s introduction contradicts her private thoughts about her family’s efforts in disaster-ridden Haiti. Chelsea wrote in a lengthy memo sent to both Bill and Hillary Clinton that "the incompetence" of the Clinton-led operation was "mind numbing," and that she was "profoundly disturbed."

The 2010 memo was kept secret until Chelsea’s email, which was sent to Hillary’s private email server, was released by the State Department in August.

Chelsea was critical of all outside relief efforts in Haiti for ignoring the efforts by the Haitian people who "wanted to help themselves."

Chelsea was also critical of the United Nations, calling its personnel "anachronistic in their thinking at best and arrogant and incompetent at worst."

"There is NO accountability in the UN system or international humanitarian system," she wrote.

The U.N. is blamed for bringing a cholera epidemic to Haiti that killed nearly 9,000 people.

Bill Clinton was the U.N. designated special envoy for Haiti and was considered to be the top dog for the relief effort.

"The truth is that Bill Clinton was already by far the most powerful individual in this flawed system, with Hillary close behind," wrote Politico.

O’Brien said earlier this year that he considers Bill Clinton "the chief development officer in Haiti."

O’Brien was party to much of that development. He has been involved in Haiti since before the 2010 earthquake, overseeing the Clintons’ work in Haiti since the annual CGI meeting in 2009.

O’Brien has also provided much of the funding for that development work. He has partnered with organizations to make commitments through CGI worth millions, such as $18.1 million for school infrastructure and $10 million to rebuild the Port au Prince Iron Market.

O’Brien’s investment has made him the "de facto ambassador" for the business-centered approach to the redevelopment of Haiti, according to a 2012 New York Times profile.

It has also made O’Brien, who is worth $6.4 billion, a lot of money.

Digicel, a mobile network provider owned by O’Brien, became Haiti’s biggest employer in the years following the earthquake. It has invested hundreds of millions in its Haiti operation, making it the largest private investor in the country’s history.

In 2012, Haitians accounted for one-third of Digicel’s subscribers. That year, the company made $86 million in profit off $439 million in revenue from its Haitian operations alone.

O’Brien made $650 million off his stake in Digicel in 2014.

"There is something that is two-way about this relationship," a businessman in Haiti told the Times. "It is not only a story of what Digicel and Mr. O’Brien have done for Haiti, but also what Haiti has done for Digicel and Mr. O’Brien."

"What is striking is how deeply he has embedded his Haiti work into both his business and personal life," said Bill Clinton of O’Brien.

The business success of O’Brien has also benefitted the Clintons.

O’Brien has given between $5 and $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, and has covered the hefty cost of multiple Clinton speeches.

The Clinton Foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

Published under: Bill Clinton