US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Haiti to inspect the damage left by the massive earthquake which hit the country on Tuesday.
Mrs Clinton arrived in the capital Port-au-Prince on a US Coast Guard C-130 transport plane carrying bottled water, packaged food, soap and other supplies.
She later met with Haitian President Rene Preval and promised America's quake relief efforts would be closely co-ordinated with local officials.
Her remarks appeared designed to counter any notion of a too-intrusive American involvement in the aftermath of the quake, while also assuring Haitians the humanitarian mission would continue as long as it is needed.
"We are here at the invitation of your government to help you," she said at a news conference at the Port-au-Prince airport. "As President Obama has said, we will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead. And speaking personally, I know of the great resilience and strength of the Haitian people. You have been severely tested. But I believe that Haiti can come back even stronger and better in the future."
Mrs Clinton, the highest-ranking Obama administration official to visit since the magnitude-7.0 quake struck on Tuesday, arrived in a Coast Guard C-130 transport which carried bottled water, packaged food, soap and other supplies. She was accompanied by Rajiv Shah, the US Agency for International Development administrator who is acting as the top US relief co-ordinator.
She also met with UN officials and US civilians and military personnel working on the relief effort. She said she and Mr Preval discussed his government's priorities: restoring communications, electricity and transportation. "And we agreed that we will be co-ordinating closely together to achieve these goals," she said.
Mr Preval said he was encouraged to see former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush together with President Barack Obama at the White Housein a joint plea for international assistance to Haiti.
He noted that US aid has already arrived and told reporters he met a survivor who was pulled from the rubble Saturday and receiving care from American medical teams. He thanked Clinton for her visit and for Mr Obama's continued support. "Mrs. Clinton's visit really warms our heart today," he said.
During the news conference, officials noted the clatter of military helicopters landing and taking off nearby. "That's a good sound," said Mrs Clinton. "That means that good things are going to the people of Haiti."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed that the United States help establish a joint coordinating unit to help the Haitian government in its humongous effort to provide aid to tens of thousands of earthquake victims.
Clinton proposed the new effort during a private meeting with Haitian President René Préval during a brief visit to Port-au-Prince Saturday.
Sources say Clinton did not come offering new financial aid but offered that the U.S. would even staff the unit.
The offer comes as Haiti enters its fifth day of trying to recover bodies, and as the country and its international partners continue to struggle to bring food, water and medical assistance to victims sleeping in refugee camps throughout the densely populated capital.
On Saturday, the United Nations stabilization mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, established a humanitarian corridor between Haiti and the Dominican Republic which would allow aid convoys to come by road from an airport in Barahona and into Port-au-Prince. The airport is located 50 miles from the Haitian border.
The corridor is critical because Port-au-Prince's airport has been overwhelmed by aid planes and the capital's major port have been greatly damaged by the quake.
Those who attended the meeting told the Herald Préval did not object to the U.S. taking the lead and in fact welcomed it, acknowledging that his incapacitated government has been struggling to coordinate the tons of aid coming into the country in recent days, including food, water and hundreds of medical personnel.
A joint coordinating unit would allow decisions to be taken on everything from where food distribution centers are opened to where the USNS Comfort hospital ship should focus its attention when it arrives here Jan. 20.
``What we want to do is make sure we are prioritizing and coordinating,'' Clinton said to reporters following the meeting.
Neither she nor Préval discussed the details of their private conversation, but he later told The Miami Herald that he was pleased with the meeting.
Though Clinton did not come promising new money, she said the $100 million pledged by the Obama administration was just the start as Haiti seeks to reconstruct itself.
In a symbolic gesture of the U.S. commitment, the administration offered to lease the old U.S. Embassy to Haiti for $1 a year. The building has been valued at $1 million and the government has sought to use it following the destruction of more than one third of its government buildings.
Préval was told of the gesture in the private meeting.
``It's a terrible, horrible catastrophe for the people of Haiti, but I think the outpouring from America and beyond should give them some reason to hope,'' Clinton said.
Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said so far government workers have removed 20,000 cadavers from the streets of the capital. He could not say how many victims there were.
He said they're still trying to assess the number of quake victims, which would be impossible because many families have buried loved ones on their own and the search continues.
One area where joint coordination was already in motion was in strengthening the ability and capacity of the Haitian national police. Police took a much more visible role in patrolling the streets and refugee camps after days of being absent.
Edmond Mulet, former head of the United Nations mission in Haiti, now temporarily reassigned here, told The Miami Herald that MINUSTAH has established a coordination effort with the United States to help in distributing the tasks and responsibilities.
For instance, military from the United States, Canada and the United Nations will all work together to help the Haitian police provide security at aid distribution sites.
He also said both the United States and United Nations have appointed liaison officers to help coordination efforts. Also, the United Nations is working with the Dominican Republic to create a humanitarian corridor because the private ports and the port of Port-au-Prince ``are completely disabled and it will take years to fix them.''
``What we have to do now is support the Haitian government, support the Haitian leadership, and give them the roads to identify their own priorities,'' Mulet said.
He said that massive distribution began at five centers at around 3 p.m on Saturday and will pick up in the following days.
Préval, who did not offer specifics on the meeting with Clinton, said the visit warmed him and allowed for the government, ``to reassure their priorities, the needs and the coordination that needs to be done.''
The U.S. also named a former ambassador as its point person on the ground in Haiti to coordinate the efforts
Hillary and Bill Clinton on Thursday spearheaded a drive to raise money to help earthquake-ravaged Haiti, already drumming up three million dollars for Red Cross relief efforts.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who canceled a trip to Asia to address the humanitarian crisis, made the rounds of six morning television news shows where she urged Americans to make 10-dollar donations by cellular telephone.
"If you wish to help, you can text Haiti -- H-A-I-T-I -- to 90999," she said on NBC's "Today Show" after flying back from a visit to Hawaii.
"We've collected about three million dollars for the Red Cross and I thank the generosity of the people of our country," she said.
On CNN, Clinton said that the American Red Cross was in "desperate need of resources to buy the supplies that the people of Haiti require."
Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, is the UN special envoy for Haiti. He appealed for 10-dollar donations to be sent by text message to the United Nations or his own foundation.
Bill Clinton, writing in The Washington Post, said the aid should go to build a better future for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation including better buildings, schools and health care.
"Establishing this foundation for a better Haitian future will require assistance from governments, businesses and private citizens. The people of Haiti deserve our support," he said.
The Clintons have a long-running involvement with Haiti, where they spent their honeymoon.
The drive for private funds complements government pledges for Haiti. President Barack Obama, appearing with Secretary Clinton, promised an immediate 100 million dollars in aid.
The International Monetary Fund also said it would quickly provide 100 million dollars to Haiti.
Mobile phones have become an increasingly popular medium to raise funds for humanitarian causes.
Secretary Clinton last year urged Americans to make donations by telephone to support hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis who fled a government offensive on Taliban strongholds.
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