Avellon Williams
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO- As UN officials warn that Haiti’s insecurity is worsening, US State Secretary Antony Blinken called for a multinational force to support the Haitian National Police in restoring order.
Blinken spoke briefly about Haiti during a one-day trip to Trinidad and Tobago, where Caricom’s 15 members held a three-day conference.
Leaders of the Caribbean have been meeting regularly to discuss the situation in Haiti. As Caricom Chairman and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit noted, the group supports Haitian-led solutions, but he also called on the U.S. for assistance.
“It´s no secret, Mr. Secretary, that the United States will have to play a very crucial role,” he said as he introduced Blinken on the conference´s final day.
One day before the UN Security Council was scheduled to meet and discuss Haiti, Blinken spoke amid mounting pressure on the international community to deploy a foreign armed force as Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has requested.
To date, sanctions have been approved only against gang members and high-profile figures thought to support gangs that control 80% of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and are responsible for a slew of killings, rapes, and kidnappings.
With only 13,000 active-duty officers serving a country of more than 11 million people, Haiti’s National Police is underfunded and underequipped to combat the surge in violence. Tired and frustrated by the violence, some Haitians have embraced a violent uprising to kill suspected gang members.
According to Blinken, a multinational force is needed to restore security: “This is an area of intense focus for us.”
In addition, he promised to continue to push financial institutions to defer debt payments in the face of natural disasters, as hurricanes in the Caribbean region have been becoming increasingly powerful.
As part of the region’s plans to combat climate change, Blinken pledged approximately $5.5 billion to help small farmers improve their productivity and access technology.
“One in two people in the Caribbean cannot afford a healthy diet,” he noted.
Among those accompanying Blinken was New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, who pointed out that the U.S. and Caribbean share common economic and security interests.
“Caricom nations are not an afterthought,” he said. “A lot has been accomplished by Caricom in the past 50 years, but we know there´s still a lot of work to do.”
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