The U.S. has pledged to increase its financial support for a multinational security mission in the crisis-hit Haiti by 100 million dollars to 300 million dollars.
U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said this on Monday at a meeting of Caribbean heads of government. Blinken also pledged 33 million dollars in humanitarian aid for the Caribbean country.
At the meeting in Kingston, also attended by Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, a proposal was discussed to set up a transitional presidential council to resolve the political crisis.
Caribbean Community of States, said Interim Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, had agreed to resign.
A seven-member presidential council would be formed for the transition to elections in Haiti, which would appoint a new interim prime minister, Guyana’s President, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, said late on Monday after the meeting. At the request of the Haitian government, the UN Security Council authorized an international police operation to combat gang violence.
Kenya agreed to take the lead and provide around 1,000 of the planned 3,000 police officers, however, the deployment was recently halted by a court in Kenya.
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A UN spokesperson on Monday said only 10.8 million dollars have been raised so far to finance the mission adding that the Congress has not yet released most of the promised funds.
The spokesperson noted that criminal gangs controlled around 80 percent of Port-au-Prince even before the current wave of violence began. The situation has escalated dramatically since the end of February and a nationwide state of emergency is currently in force.
The country’s two most powerful gangs have joined forces and have demanded Henry’s resignation otherwise there would be a civil war, gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue” threatened.
Bandits have paralyzed large parts of Haiti with their violence and have attacked police stations and airports, with flights to and from Haiti canceled for more than a week. More than 4,500 prisoners have also been forcibly released, while diplomats from the EU and the U.S. have since left the country. The violence is exacerbating the precarious supply situation; according to the UN, almost half of Haiti’s 11 million inhabitants are suffering from acute hunger.
Blinken called the situation untenable for the people of Haiti, with Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, saying there were fears of a civil war in Haiti. The most recent escalation of violence coincided with a trip abroad by Henry, which took him first to Guyana and then in early March to Kenya.
He last flew to Puerto Rico on March 5 after the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti, did not grant him permission to land.
Dominican President, Luis Abinader, declared Henry persona non grata for security reasons.
Henry took over as interim prime minister of Haiti on July 20, 2021, around two weeks after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
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