The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, has asked both the OAS and the United Nations for support to contain the violence in a country ravaged by gangs, which control 60% of the capital, according to UN estimates.
Haiti reiterated this Wednesday, February 1, before the Organization of American States (OAS) that it needs foreign forces to be sent to its territory to contain the violence and guarantee security in an eventual electoral process.
“In order to reach the elections, security is a fundamental condition (…) without the support of an international force on the ground, Haiti will not achieve the desired security,” said the Haitian ambassador to the OAS, Leon Charles, at a meeting of the Permanent Council of the organization.
The international community, said Charles, has not yet understood the magnitude of the urgency that Haiti is going through and his government “has not received adequate support to help it generate hope in the population.”
Haiti seeks to call general elections this year, despite being immersed in a deep political and security crisis, especially after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, in mid-2021.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry has requested support from both the OAS and the United Nations to contain violence in a country ravaged by gangs, which control 60% of the capital, according to UN estimates.
The ambassador of Saint Lucia to the OAS, Elizabeth Darius, pointed out to the member states that they have a “historic debt” with Haiti, as it was the first country in the region to achieve independence and whose example was followed by the rest of the territories.
“It is a debt that all the countries of the Caribbean and South America that obtained freedom from slavery and colonialism through the example of the Haitian people in 1804,” said the diplomat.
The OAS has yet to consider a resolution on Haiti that seeks to create a working group, made up of member countries of the organization, that maintains a dialogue with the Haitian Executive and finds how to support it to guarantee “the elections and the transition to a new Government.”
The Haitian prime minister signed a political agreement on December 21 with different political parties and civil society groups to reach free elections and a democratic transition.
The 14-month transition period includes holding elections this year that will lead to a new government taking office on February 7, 2024.
With information from EFE
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