(Georgetown) The United States is “very actively engaged” in the creation of an international police force in Haiti, a country plagued by poverty and violence, assured Thursday the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Georgetown, where is the headquarters of Caricom (Caribbean country).
“We are in very active talks with countries in the region and elsewhere. We are also actively discussing with the United Nations […] Part of this is to ensure that countries are committed to playing a significant role in this force, in particular by identifying a country that would take the lead role. Again, we are very actively engaged in this direction,” said Mr. Blinken.
“We are seized with a great urgency regarding this country. We have worked hard on several lines of action,” he added.
“As you have heard from the leaders of Haiti, from the Haitian people […] there is consensus on the need for some kind of multinational force to support the work of the police and try to create a safer space and climate,” the Secretary of State said.
PHOTO KENO GEORGE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
“The government must be able to regain control without being dominated by gangs as is the case in many parts of the country”, he argued.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been calling for international intervention for nearly a year, but no country has yet declared itself ready to lead an intervention force.
Mr. Blinken, who spoke Wednesday evening with Mr. Henry, on the sidelines of the Caricom summit in Trinidad and Tobago, then called on the “international community” to “come together”.
At least 264 people accused of belonging to gangs have been killed by groups of self-proclaimed vigilantes since April in Haiti, the UN said Thursday in the country in crisis.
Faced with the inability of the police to deal with the unprecedented violence of the gangs which control a majority of the territory of the capital Port-au-Prince, residents have decided to take justice into their own hands.
“The Haitian population is trapped in a waking nightmare,” commented earlier in the day UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who visited Port-au-Prince on Saturday.
“The humanitarian situation is more than appalling. The cruel gangs have control over the population of Haiti,” he added.