Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Haiti to demonstrate American backing for an international initiative aimed at reducing gang-related violence in the Caribbean country.
On September 5, 2024, Blinken landed in Port-au-Prince, where he presented a fresh round of assistance to refugees and met with interim prime minister Garry Conille.
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Blinken informed reporters, “At this critical moment, we do need more funding, we do need more personnel to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission.”
Since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021, gangs have taken control of large areas of Haiti. Eighty percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital, is included in this estimate.
Amidst its crisis of legitimacy, the Haitian government has found it difficult to retake power and preserve calm.
The violence in Haiti has spread to ten departments, and the interim administration there widened the country’s state of emergency just one day before Blinken’s arrival.
Before, the Ouest department—which includes Port-au-Prince—was the only territory covered by the state of emergency.
However, a spokesman for Prime Minister Conille claimed that the enlarged emergency designation is a reflection of gang conflicts occurring in departments such as Artibonite, which is a sizable area that grows rice.
The United Nations estimates that in 2024, the violence will have pushed a record 578,074 people from their homes, making it the world’s greatest internal displacement disaster due to crime.
An estimated 2,500 people lost their lives or were injured in the ongoing conflict in only the first quarter of 2024.
However, to support Haiti’s law enforcement, the Kenyan government dispatched 200 police personnel in June. Out of an anticipated 1,000 Kenyan policemen, a second wave of 200 came the next month.
Nevertheless, Blinken cautioned that the Kenyan military might not be sufficient to stem the flow of gang-related violence on their own.
He has publicly asked whether a UN peacekeeping force is necessary, as have other US officials.
However, it is a contentious idea in Haiti, where on their most recent deployment, UN forces caused a fatal cholera outbreak.
Between 2010 and 2019, the illness claimed the lives of around 10,000 individuals.
Many in the country view international troops with caution due to the lengthy history of foreign intervention. The priority, according to Blinken during his visit, was to make sure the international community was ready to help the Kenyan soldiers going forward, who had arrived as part of a mission known as the Multinational Security Help Mission.
Last October, the operation was authorized for a one-year duration. The UN should get together again and decide on an extension, according to Blinken.
“The mission itself needs to be renewed,” he noted. “That’s what we’re working on right now. But we also want something that’s reliable, that’s sustainable, and we’ll look at every option to do that. A UN peacekeeping mission is one option.”
The US has provided the most financial assistance for the project, with a $360 million pledge from President Joe Biden’s administration.
Recent news of an extra $45 million in humanitarian relief for Haiti was released.
During his visit, Blinken again emphasized the need to have a stable, democratically elected administration. He urged Haitian authorities to organize fresh general elections for the next year.
“That is the critical next step,” he noted. “We want to make sure Haiti is back on a clear democratic track.”
Previous to the killing of President Moise, Haiti had not had federal elections. Its most recent democratically elected authorities reached the end of their terms in January 2023, and there was nobody to take their place.
At that moment, the late Moise nominated former prime minister Ariel Henry to lead the cabinet soon before his passing. However, because Henry was an unelected official and hence not very popular, local gangs took advantage of this mistrust of the government to further their own agendas and become more powerful.
In the end, Henry resigned in April, which made way for the formation of a transitional council entrusted with restoring democratic standards.
“Much remains to be done, and we’re determined to continue,” Blinken noted. “It’s starting to move.”
