(Port-au-Prince) Strangled by gangs, Haiti is still awaiting the arrival of a first contingent of the multinational force led by Kenya, which was hoped for this week but postponed.
The murder announced Friday of three people, including two American missionaries, in an attack by armed gangs, revived calls for rapid deployment.
“The security situation in Haiti cannot wait,” said a spokesperson for the American executive.
The mission supported by the UN and in which the United States is very involved on the logistical level – without however providing men – must support the Haitian police in the fight against the gangs which terrorize the population and largely control the capital Port-au-Prince.
Senior Kenyan officers have already arrived in Haiti on a reconnaissance mission.
Speculation had been rife that a first contingent would be deployed this week, to coincide with Kenyan President William Ruto’s state visit to Washington on Thursday.
PHOTO KEN CEDENO, REUTERS
Kenyan President William Ruto
Ultimately, no announcement was made during this trip, apart from Mr. Ruto’s assurance that the Kenyan force was capable of “breaking” the gangs.
In an interview with the BBC, the latter mentioned a delay of “three weeks”, if the conditions are met.
“Once we have carried out the assessment agreed upon with the Haitian police and Haitian leaders, we anticipate a period of approximately three weeks to be ready to deploy, once everything is ready on the ground,” he said. .
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Kenya and other countries deploying to Haiti aim to “secure this country and break up the gangs and criminals who have inflicted untold suffering on this country,” Ruto said.
“This is a crisis. It is possible to cope with it,” assured American President Joe Biden, praising Kenya’s “first-rate capabilities”.
A Haitian government source told AFP that the delay in the deployment of this force “is due in part” to the fact that necessary equipment has not yet been delivered.
In the meantime, the gangs’ reaction to the force’s arrival remains unknown.
According to Diego Da Rin, Haiti expert for the International Crisis Group research center, they have sent “conflicting signals” in recent weeks.
“It seems the gangs are waiting to see what this mission will look like. On the one hand, we see that there is a certain restraint in the attacks, but there are still quite spectacular assaults,” like the one that recently targeted a prison, Mr. Da Rin told AFP. , interviewed before the death of the three missionaries.
And during these attacks, gang members film videos in which they issue warnings to “foreign forces and show what they are capable of doing,” he continued.
” Transparent ”
Among the scenarios that could explain the change in the intensity and frequency of the attacks – which have never stopped, he points out – is perhaps the fact that the gangs are trying to amass ammunition, if they intend to carry out a “fairly impressive” attack against the multinational force, according to the analyst.
They may also simply be short of ammunition, or they follow a “somewhat dual strategy” according to which they continue the attacks, but do not cross “certain red lines, for example the occupation of the presidential palace, to leave the possibility to negotiate with the Haitian authorities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the transitional presidential council, set up after the resignation of controversial Prime Minister Ariel Henry and roiled by power struggles, is struggling to tackle the country’s deep problems and has still not named a prime minister. nor an interim government.
According to local media, dozens of applications have poured in for the post of prime minister and the list was recently sifted.
The United States Embassy in Haiti welcomed Friday on X that the presidential council “has begun the process of selecting a prime minister.”
“We look forward to a transparent process that will allow Haiti to have a prime minister and a transitional government, selected on the basis of technical merit and impartiality,” she said.