US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Kingston, Jamaica on Monday for emergency talks on Haiti, where armed gangs attacked the National Palace and set a part of the Interior Ministry on fire with petrol bombs on Sunday.
Representatives from Canada, France, the UN and Caribbean nations attended the meeting in Kingston convened by the Caribbean community, or CariCom, to discuss the worsening violence in Haiti.
The gangs are led by Jimmy Chérizier, a police officer turned gang lord nicknamed “Barbecue”, who has threatened a civil war and genocide if Prime Minister Ariel Henry does not step down.”If Ariel Henry doesn’t step down and the international community continues to support him,” he said last week, “they will lead us directly to a civil war which will end in genocide.”.The gangs have raided prisons, targeted police stations, and unleashed chaos on the streets.
Ariel Henry, who was in Kenya seeking support for a multinational force to help stabilise the country, could not return to the capital Port-au-Prince last week owing to firefights near the airport. He is said to be in Puerto Rico, under pressure to resign or form a transitional council.
The international community is pushing for a peaceful resolution. Caricom has long advocated for a transitional government in Haiti, and the US presented a joint plan with the bloc to facilitate a political shift. The UN Security Council condemned the gang violence and urged the deployment of a multinational force to bolster Haitian police.
The violence has taken a devastating toll. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are displaced, facing food and water shortages. Months of protests against Henry, fuelled by postponed elections, culminated in the current unrest.
Caricom leaders warned Haitian stakeholders of the urgency to find a solution. The regional bloc emphasized that some parties are not cooperating effectively. The UN painted a grim picture, describing reports from Haiti as “dire.” The relocation of embassy staff from the US, EU, and Germany highlights the rapidly worsening security situation.
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