Official: Haiti to seek foreign armed forces to quell chaos
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s government has agreed to request the help of international armed forces as gangs and protesters paralyze the country and basic supplies including fuel and water dwindle, a top ranking Haitian official told The Associated Press on Friday.
The official, who was not authorized to speak about the issue publicly, said a formal request in writing has not yet been submitted.
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It wasn’t clear if the request would mean the activation of United Nations peacekeeping troops, whose mission ended five years ago after a troubled 11 years in Haiti.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Friday that the U.S. is considering a request for a humanitarian corridor to restore the distribution of fuel within Haiti and coordinating with Haiti’s prime minister and other international partners to determine how best to provide additional support.
“We strongly condemn those who continue to block the distribution of fuel and other necessities to Haitian businesses,” he said.
Patel would not address the issue of where the troops to enforce the corridor might come from, saying that consideration was still in an early stage.
The petition comes after Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States, held a meeting Thursday with officials including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Haiti Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Victor Généus to talk about the country’s worsening situation.
Almagro tweeted late Thursday that Haiti “must request urgent assistance from the international community to help resolve security crises, determine the characteristics of an international security force.”
Many Haitians have rejected the idea of another international intervention, noting that U.N. peacekeepers were accused of sexual assault and sparked a cholera epidemic more than a decade ago that killed nearly 10,000 people.
“I don’t think Haiti needs another intervention,” said Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s former elections minister. “We have been through so many, and nothing has been solved… If we don’t do it as Haitians, 10 years forward, we’re going to be in the same situation again.”
