Haiti’s new leader, Prime Minister Garry Conille, arrived in the United States on Saturday for a visit that includes meetings with international financial institutions and a White House official. This trip, which also involves other Haitian officials, comes just days after Kenyan police finally arrived in Haiti on a long-awaited mission to help stabilize the violence-ravaged Caribbean nation.
Conille, leading the country’s transitional government, is set to meet with Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer on Monday, according to a National Security Council spokesperson. In addition to this meeting, Conille and his delegation, which includes his economic and foreign ministers, will hold “important working meetings” with the heads of international financial institutions.
- Advertisement -
The delegation will also visit Haiti’s embassy in Washington and travel to New York, as stated by Conille’s office.
Haiti has long struggled with gang violence, but conditions sharply deteriorated at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince, aiming to overthrow then-prime minister Ariel Henry. In early March, Henry announced his resignation and handed over executive power to a transitional council, which named Conille as the interim prime minister on May 29.
The violence in Port-au-Prince has severely impacted food security and humanitarian aid access, with much of the city under the control of gangs accused of murder, rape, looting, and kidnappings.
The arrival of the multinational Kenyan force, approved last year by the UN Security Council, had been delayed for months due to deployment challenges in Kenyan courts. The first police officers finally arrived in Haiti on Tuesday. Washington has pledged generous funding for the UN-backed mission but has ruled out sending American troops.
