"The voodoo is not evil!" That's what Haiti's "king of voodoo" wants the U.S. government to know - and he's hired a lobbying team to help get his message across.
Three lobbyists from Florida-based firm Croissance International Consulting are lobbying on behalf of Augustin St. Clou, reportedly former acting supreme chief of Haitian voodoo. Whether the lobbying can work any magic on Washington is unclear. There is little to no publicly available information on CIC or its lobbyists, none of whom have previously registered as federal lobbyists.
CIC began lobbying the federal government this month on foreign relations, education, religion and government issues, according to a recent filing. "The voodoo is not EVIL!" explains the form. "'Big social problem' for the desperately poor country, arguing that the religion offers 'magic' but no real solutions to a population deprived of justice and a political voice. [V]oodoo is gaining appeal in the [U.S.] amongst young people. The image of voodoo went wrong from the first encounter from the first visitors to the continent, the anthropologists who didn't understand what they were seeing and from that came a lot of xenophobic. [It] has suffered from a bad press internationally but is an official religion. The voodoo is not evil!"
