A canvas of the Iron Market in the background of the room, others with “Vèvè” motifs, classics like Duffaut, Dodard, or Scott signaled that business was being discussed within the walls of the Haitian Embassy in Washington, Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Ambassador Lionel Delatour and the Minister of Commerce and Industry welcomed the guests as a pâté kòde underwent its first test. “Yes, it’s made with smoked herring,” remarked a connoisseur, rum punch in hand, his eyes caught by a small griyo sandwich.

The taste, the aroma, the gentle hum of the first conversations filled the embassy halls where Haiti’s ambassador to Washington, Lionel Delatour, pursued efforts to persuade for the renewal of the HOPE/HELP Act, during a cocktail gathering of U.S. federal lawmakers, Haitian, Korean, Dominican, and Canadian investors, members of the diplomatic corps, and the Haitian community, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.