deux gwo neg

The names of two gwo neg - big (as-in-influential) men -with connections to Haiti have been hitting the news in recent days. About 2 weeks ago, Bill Clinton was named as the special envoy of the United Nations to Haiti. It's not really a defined position (the salary is $1 per year) but pretty much ensures that the Clinton Foundation will be increasingly involved in Haiti and also suggests that Haiti will have some form of priority on the UN agenda. Also in the last week Paul Farmer has emerged as the leading candidate to fill the head of USAID and/or an even higher level Global Health position in the Obama administration. My friends with personal connections to him say there is a good chance of him accepting - but nothing has been decided yet.

Both of these people come with interesting/complicated socio-political histories and connections in Haiti and distinct reputations in the wider international community. I can think of reasons why both are great and terrible choices for their respective jobs. So I guess the best stance is cautious optimism that something good here in Haiti, there in the US / the UN and maybe a little bit of everywhere else might emerge...but with very little expectation for what, when, where, or how. How's that for diplomatic?