(New York) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that a lasting solution to the crisis in Haiti will have to come from within this crisis-stricken country.
Mr. Trudeau made the comments during his final day at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, as he took a seat next to Ariel Henry, interim prime minister of Haiti.
Mr. Trudeau announced an additional 80 million in humanitarian aid and security assistance for the Haitian national police, completely overwhelmed by the activities of criminal gangs.
Canada is also imposing new sanctions against three other members of Haiti’s corruption-ridden business community, bringing the total to 29 so far.
Mr. Trudeau and Canada’s Ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae, also chaired an ad hoc advisory group made up of UN delegates on Thursday who are trying to chart a way forward in this delicate issue.
The prime minister was scheduled to hold a closing news conference later Thursday before returning to Ottawa.
“In Haiti, there is no external solution to this situation,” he declared. We have a role to play from the outside […], but we need more dialogue, more consensus in Haiti and around the Haitian people. »
Violent gangs have plagued Haiti since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, blocking fuel deliveries and terrorizing the local population, all amid a cholera epidemic.
Last fall, Prime Minister Henry called for outside military intervention to eliminate the gangs and provide humanitarian aid. This call has intensified pressure on Canada, from the UN and its allies like the United States, for Ottawa to take the lead in this initiative.
Kenya has since offered to play this role, and the United States is reportedly close to asking the UN Security Council to approve the deployment of a multinational force to Haiti.
The new sanctions announced Thursday by Ottawa target businessmen Marc Antoine Acra, Carl Braun and Jean-Marie Vorbe. These “three members of the Haitian economic elite” will be banned from entering Canada and will be subject to a general ban on transactions.
“Canada has reason to believe that these individuals are fueling violence and instability in Haiti by engaging in corruption and other criminal acts, and by enabling armed gangs to carry out illegal activities that terrorize the population and threaten peace and security in Haiti,” said a press release from Global Affairs Canada.