In October, the UN Security Council discussed the possibility of deploying troops to the western hemisphere’s poorest nation to crack down on gangs.
The international community must send a strike force to Haiti to tackle the heavily armed gangs ravaging the country, even as police said they ended earlier this month a blockade of a fuel terminal that exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, Haiti’s ambassador said Monday. in Washington, Boxy Edmond told Reuters news agency.
In October, the UN Security Council discussed the possibility of deploying troops to the western hemisphere’s poorest nation to crack down on gangs. But the idea has attracted little attention since Haitian police regained control of the fuel terminal in Varre earlier in November.
“The situation has not changed, the opening of the fuel terminal has not solved the problem,” insisted Mr Edmond, adding that gangs continue to expand the territory they control.
“If there is no international presence to help tackle the armed gangs, the situation could become even more dire,” the diplomat warned.
The international force would be tasked with supporting the Haitian police, and its members would be drawn from, in Mr. Edmond’s terminology, a potential “coalition of the willing.”
However, most governments in the region and internationally seem hesitant or skeptical of the idea of ​​deploying troops to Haiti.
The next Brazilian government seems unlikely to make such a decision, according to two informed sources. The participation of Latin America’s largest country’s armed forces in MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti (2004-2017), was far from popular in Brazil.
Amid protests, riots and looting after the government of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henri decided to end public fuel subsidies, gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Sergier ordered his men to take over the country’s main fuel terminal.
The seizure and blockade of the facility for nearly six weeks disrupted the distribution of gasoline and diesel fuel, crippling most economic activity and causing critical shortages of essential goods as Haiti grappled with a new cholera outbreak.
On November 6, “Barbecue” assured that workers can return to the fuel terminal. Distribution has since been slowly restored.
But at the same time, gang activity — particularly kidnappings for ransom and clashes with police — is escalating, amid a resurgence of activity.
RES-EMP
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