Haiti’s ambassador to Washington has warned the international community that criminal gangs are in danger of taking over the country and urged them to speed up negotiations on the deployment of armed intervention.
Bockitt Edmund has appealed because efforts to agree to a UN resolution in favor of such a force appear to have stalled, with the United States and Canada holding urgent talks looking for ways to break the deadlock.
“It’s important to see how we can bring armed gangs out of business quickly, because if we don’t do that urgently, it’s only a matter of time before they take over the entire country,” Edmond said. increase. he told the Guardian.
“It is not in the interest of all of our closest neighbors to allow such things to happen.”
Heavily armed gangs have blocked Haiti’s main fuel terminals, bringing much of the country to a standstill and causing the collapse of basic services amid a cholera outbreak and widespread famine. Haitians say they were forced from their homes to escape violence.
The UN Security Council agreed earlier this month to a resolution sanctioning gang leaders, but has voluntarily removed non-UN forces from the country with the aim of helping Haitian police break through repression of insurgents. There was no consensus on giving the go-ahead to recruit.
The United States has said it hopes the Security Council will eventually pass a resolution giving UN recognition to the military, and Secretary of State Anthony Brinken has traveled to Ottawa to meet with his Canadian counterpart Justin Brinken. I met with Prime Minister Trudeau.
Canada has sent a fact-finding team to Haiti to assess humanitarian and security needs, but Trudeau said on Friday, “Before we can establish any mission, we need to see a clear plan of action. ‘ and was non-committal.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said intensive diplomatic activity inside and outside the United Nations will continue.
“The solutions under discussion are limited and need to be carefully considered. It is a non-UN mission led by a partner country and requires deep and necessary experience to be effective in such an effort. We have made it clear that we need to,” Price said Friday. increase.”
There are widespread concerns that such an intervention could stymie countries sending troops in a protracted struggle with no clear exit, as has happened with previous UN forces.
Haitian activists also warn that intervention could exacerbate violence without providing long-term solutions. accused of systematic sexual abuse of women, leading to a cholera outbreak that killed 10,000 and took nine years to eradicate.
Haiti’s ambassador, Edmund, said a way around these hurdles needed to be found.
“I understand there have been mistakes and I’m sure I’ve learned from them. I can see how I can do things differently,” said Edmund. “But the only thing I can say is look at the situation in Haiti, where people are defenseless in front of armed groups with far greater firepower than the national police.
“There are 4 million children who cannot go to school. [a] Hospitals cannot go to hospitals and there is an epidemic of cholera. A company that produces potable water cannot function because the main fuel terminal is blocked. So it’s the exact recipe for a very apocalyptic end,” the ambassador said. If you don’t deserve to live.”
