Haiti Real Estate

The IMF estimates real GDP was flat in FY 2003 and projects 1% real GDP growth for FY 2004. However, GDP per capita-- $425 in FY 2002-- will continue to decline as population growth is estimated at 1.3% p.a. While implementation of governance reforms and peaceful resolution of the political stalemate are key to long-term growth, external support remains critical in avoiding economic collapse. The major element is foreign remittances, reported as $931 million in 2002, primarily from the U.S. Foreign assistance, meanwhile, was $130 million in FY 2002. Overall foreign assistance levels have declined since FY 1995, the year elected government was restored to power under a UN mandate, when over $600 million in aid was provided by the international community. ... [Read More]

US Dept of State

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Tips for Travelers to the Caribbean

May 1997 Foreword Since colonial times, the Caribbean has been a favorite place for American visitors. In the past 50 years, tourism to the area has increased greatly, and today millions of U.S. citizens visit the islands every year. The majority of these visitors have a safe trip. To help you have a similar experience, the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs has prepared these tips for you. Consular Affairs provides services to Americans ... [Read More]

Dominican Republic

Real Estate: Real estate investments require a high level of caution, as property rights are irregularly enforced. Investors often encounter problems in receiving clear title to land, and title insurance is not available. Real estate investments by U.S. citizens have been the subject of both legal and physical takeover attempts. Squatters, sometimes supported by governmental or non-governmental organizations, have invaded properties belonging to U.S. citizens, threatening violence and blocking the owners from entering their property. In at least one instance, the U.S. citizen landowner was physically assaulted. Several U.S. citizens with long-standing expropriation disputes with the Dominican Government have not received compensation. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Byliner: Expedited Procedures Used to Rush Aid to Iraqis, Natsios Says

Critics have implied that inviting only the big firms to compete for each contract is a sign of cronyism or favoritism. This is far from the truth. If you need a surgeon, a lawn service, a real estate agent or a college, you seek out the names with the reputation for quality and the ability to get the job done. That is what the USAID has done. ... [Read More]

Department of State, International Information Programs, U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, March 2000 - "The Making of U.S. Foreign Policy"

Still, global real-time television, the Internet, and other recent technological advances have clearly affected how top foreign policy-makers do their job. Nowhere is this change more starkly seen than in the time pressures officials now face. McNamara's long days behind closed doors advising Kennedy on the Cuba crisis are an unimaginable luxury to his counterparts today. The rapid transmission of information and a ubiquitous media with questions at the ready mean that officials must make decisions and state policy publicly more rapidly than they might like. Telling the media and the public to wait for answers is always an option, but usually one that makes officials look unprepared or vacillating. The time crunch, combined with an adversary's own "information warfare," can lead to mistakes. NATO's incomplete account of the accidental bombing of a refugee convoy in Kosovo, later amended several times, sapped the alliance's credibility at a key point during Operation Allied Force. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Minimal Uprooting of Iraqis Is Goal of Army Civil Affairs Unit

Ninety-six percent of U.S. civil affairs personnel are Army Reservists who bring a variety of professional skills to their military jobs, said Ponkratz. The soon-to-be deployed 432nd -- approximately 150 people -- includes a police officer, oil company technician, physician, agricultural geneticist, golf course "greens-keeper," marketer, real estate specialist, federal government employee and computer programmer. Specialists are recruited from both the U.S. civilian and military populations, he said. ... [Read More]

The Caribbean

(1) Data for 1999 is through October. Marijuana seizure statistics for 1991-93 have been revised.Caribbean Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom and BermudaI. SummaryAnguilla, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) comprise the United KingdomТs Caribbean Overseas Territories (COTs). These territories are not significant drug-producing locations but are drug-transshipment points. There is no evidence, however, that drugs are coming through the COTs to the U.S. in quantities sufficient to have a significant effect on the United States. Bermuda is a self-governing overseas territory of the UK. It is not a drug-producing location. With its mid-ocean location 600 miles ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, March 8

As far as where the Embassy will be located, no final decision on that at this point. We will need to build our own site, to construct or find our own Embassy. Certainly, we don't want to be associated with the former regime in that matter, but I also have to say that in terms of temporary quarters, there's a limited amount of real estate available in Baghdad that would meet the requirements of size and security. So we'll have to see where they -- what they can find in order to allow operation of this diplomatic establishment. ... [Read More]