WASHINGTON — US celebrity conservative Sarah Palin will visit cholera-ravaged Haiti this weekend with an evangelical Christian relief organization despite days of post-election violence, the group said Friday.
The former Alaska governor was expected to arrive on Saturday with a delegation from Franklin Graham's Samaritan Purse, but the plans could change according to the security situation in the country, a spokesperson said.
"I am pleased that governor Palin will accompany us on a brief trip to Haiti this weekend and I appreciate her willingness to visit Haiti during such troubled times," said Graham, son of the famed pastor Billy Graham.
"I believe governor Palin will be a great encouragement to the people of Haiti and to the organizations, both government and private, working so hard to provide desperately needed relief."
Political powerhouse Palin, who is mulling a run at the presidency in 2012, spent much of the past year stumping for Republican congressional candidates at the head of the archconservative "Tea Party" movement.
In Haiti she will see the massive devastation from a January earthquake that killed some 250,000 people and learn about a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 2,100 since mid-October.
In recent days the country has seen widespread violent demonstrations following a disputed election last month that could affect the visit.
Samaritan's Purse, which claims to have treated over 4,000 patients since the outbreak began and trained 110 Haitian doctors and nurses, said the delegation would visit cholera programs and distribute Christmas gifts to children.
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