(Ottawa) Canada remains determined to play a leading role in a possible intervention by the international community in Haiti, assures Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while insisting on the importance of changing the approach in order to avoid repeating the past mistakes.
“Our role is to see how we can help and we can no longer be naive in this. If we really wanted to help over the last few years, but it gave us what we see now, we have to have a new approach, ”he said in French during an end interview. year awarded to The Canadian Press.
The topic likely came to the table of the Incident Response Group that met on Tuesday to address the crisis in Haiti.
Mr. Trudeau, who chaired the meeting, mentioned during the interview that Canada has thirty years of experience in providing support to the pearl of the Antilles. However, he noted that several international development initiatives have not yielded the expected results, such as training police officers.
“We have a long history in Haiti and we still find ourselves, 30 years later, in a crisis as serious, if not worse than the others,” said the Prime Minister.
He presented Canada’s sanctions regime as part of the desired new approach. Ottawa has sanctioned — jointly with Washington — members of the Haitian elite deemed responsible or complicit in the violence suffered by the population in Haiti.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly echoed the same message during a press scrum on Tuesday. “We believe that sanctions have not been used in the past and create adequate pressure to encourage political dialogue and to respond to the security challenge in Haiti,” she said.
European sanctions?
Mr. Trudeau mentioned, during the end-of-year interview, a desire to see European countries follow in the footsteps of the Canadian government.
“We are leading the United States and perhaps even Europe to (put forward) their own sanctions as well. »
The Prime Minister did not fail to reiterate that other sanctions would be added to Canada’s list. Minister Joly had recently pointed this out.
Prime Minister Trudeau dispatched Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, to Haiti to try to find a path to consensus in order to get the country out of the crisis.
On Tuesday, Minister Joly indicated that Mr. Rae had returned to the country. “He certainly presented his point of view, his recommendations, and you will have more information shortly,” she said.
The Haitian people have been confronted, in recent months, with a new wave of violence by armed gangs whose members perpetrate repeated rapes and blockades preventing the population from receiving essential services.
In addition to glaring security issues, the country is currently facing an outbreak of cholera and food insecurity.
From disappointment to failure
Mr. Trudeau, while he recognizes frankly that Canada’s past interventions have not allowed Haitians to find a climate of stability, does not go so far as to speak of an acknowledgment of failure. Asked about this, he used the word “disappointment” instead.
“It is certain that we are extremely disappointed to see the situation, but (it) is nothing compared to the violence and to what the Haitians are currently experiencing,” he replied.
Nevertheless, a few sentences later, the Prime Minister used the word “failure” when discussing Canada’s sanctions regime.
“Perhaps it’s a way of breaking this ‘pattern’ which has been there for a long time, but which is not just a failure of Canada alone, but (also) of the United Nations, the United States, France, from Europe — from everyone who has wanted to help over the years, but without seeing real results for the pearl of the Antilles,” Mr. Trudeau dropped.
Canada, a “leader”
Haitian Prime Minister and self-proclaimed President Ariel Henry — who was not elected after an election — called for foreign military intervention to help build a humanitarian corridor.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was in favor and the United States has since participated in discussions on the subject, suggesting that Canada could assume a leadership role.
Asked to clarify whether he still foresees that Ottawa can lead the parade, Mr. Trudeau assured that yes, ruling out any possibility of a secondary role.
“There is a level of trust between the Haitian people and the Government of Canada that they have less with other allies elsewhere. So we are well positioned for that,” he said.
The Prime Minister noted that Ottawa is trying to involve stakeholders from the Caribbean and South America while reiterating that Canada would be “at the forefront”.
One of the things we are trying to do is to bring other countries with us […] of the global South to be part of an approach that (is not going to) only (be reduced to) “it will still be the North, the West, which will come to the rescue of Haiti”.
Justin Trudeau
Throughout the interview segment on the crisis in Haiti, he hammered home that Ottawa wants to lead Haitians to find a consensus on the way forward.
The last elections in this country date back to before the COVID-19 pandemic. Former President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021 and Prime Minister Henry then presented himself as leader.