Cash-strapped Haiti has an image problem. The government is spending thousands to fix it Jacqueline Charles More than 4.4 million are facing a hunger crisis. Inflation remains in the double digits and poverty is rising. But none of that is stopping Haiti’s cash-strapped government from digging into its meager coffers to pay expensive U.S. lobbyists to help its embattled president, who is increasingly facing criticism from members of Congress and calls from Haitians to step down. In the last month, the impoverished nation has added at least four new high-powered members to its lobbying team in the United States, according to foreign registration filings with the U.S. Justice Department. The new hires include a former U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a former chief of staff at the Organization of American States and two influential Democratic donors.