(San Juan) The Security Council of the United Nations evaluated, Monday, the possible measures to come to the aid of Haiti, including the possibility of a rapid military deployment. Haiti is crippled by criminal gangs and a popular uprising that has led to shortages of fuel, water and other essentials.
Posted at 5:48 p.m.
A UN military intervention would aim to quell the threat posed by armed criminal groups and provide protection to infrastructure and services in addition to ensuring “the free flow of water, fuel, food and supplies services from major ports and airports to communities and health care facilities,” according to a letter submitted by Secretary General António Guterres to the Security Council on Sunday.
According to the letter, which The Associated Press was able to see but which has not been made public, one or more member states could provide the necessary personnel to support the Haitian National Police.
It also says that the Secretary General could deploy other UN resources to support a ceasefire or humanitarian agreement.
However, the letter stipulates that a return to a more imposing form of engagement in the form of peacekeeping remains a last resort if nothing else is urgently done by the international community.
This letter was submitted after the Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, and 18 other senior leaders of the country had requested the intervention of a special force sufficient to put an end to the criminal acts of armed groups across the country.
This request comes nearly a month after one of the most powerful criminal groups took control of a strategic oil terminal in Port-au-Prince, where nearly 10 million gallons of diesel and gasoline are stored. as well as over 800,000 gallons of jet fuel.
Tens of thousands of angry protesters also barricaded streets in the capital and other major cities preventing the movement of goods. The demonstrators are against the dizzying rise in fuel prices.
Gas stations and schools are closed while banks and grocery stores limit their opening hours.