Daniel Foote served as U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti from July to September of last year. File photo/AFP

NEW YORK — A former top U.S. diplomatic official said the Haitian people should be given the chance to govern themselves free of intervention from international actors. Daniel Foote, the former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti who resigned publicly after two months, also said the Haitian diaspora can provide “cultural coaching” to help Haiti out of its quagmire.

“The Haitian people will fix this,” said Foote, who was speaking during a Feb. 7 Haitian Times community conversation panel. “It will take unity and trust within an interim government to move toward elections and they need to give people reasons to trust them.”

On the night of what would have been the late President Jovenel Moïse’s final day as president, Foote discussed the future of Haiti, interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s motivations for not stepping down and the state of U.S.-Haiti relations with the Biden administration. The hour-and-a-half-long conversation with Haitian Times Founder Garry Pierre-Pierre and Executive Director Macollvie J. Neel also touched on the investigation into who assassinated Moïse, the provisional government proposed by the Montana Accord and even conspiracy theories about thwarting Haitian democracy.

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Daniel Foote served as U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti from July to September of last year. File photo/AFP

NEW YORK — A former top U.S. diplomatic official said the Haitian people should be given the chance to govern themselves free of intervention from international actors. Daniel Foote, the former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti who resigned publicly after two months, also said the Haitian diaspora can provide “cultural coaching” to help Haiti out of its quagmire.

“The Haitian people will fix this,” said Foote, who was speaking during a Feb. 7 Haitian Times community conversation panel. “It will take unity and trust within an interim government to move toward elections and they need to give people reasons to trust them.”

On the night of what would have been the late President Jovenel Moïse’s final day as president, Foote discussed the future of Haiti, interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s motivations for not stepping down and the state of U.S.-Haiti relations with the Biden administration. The hour-and-a-half-long conversation with Haitian Times Founder Garry Pierre-Pierre and Executive Director Macollvie J. Neel also touched on the investigation into who assassinated Moïse, the provisional government proposed by the Montana Accord and even conspiracy theories about thwarting Haitian democracy.

To access this post, you must purchase Haitian Times' Subscription, Billed Yearly or Weekly Pass.

Larisa is a reporter for The Haitian Times covering politics, elections and education primarily. A graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, she has interned at CNBC and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. She is also a recipient of a 2021 DBEI Fellowship by Investigative Reporters & Editors. Larisa can be reached by email at larisa@haitiantimes.com or on Twitter @larisakarr.