The UN Secretary-General pledges to keep up the “pressure” for the international force in Haiti

“I will continue to push for a strong international security force, with a Security Council mandate, to help the Haitian National Police defeat and dismantle the gangs,” Guterres said in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The opening ceremony of the Caribbean Community Summit (CARICOM).

“I reiterate my call to all partners to increase support for the national police in the form of funding, training and equipment,” he added.

Thus the UN chief insisted on the call he made to the CARICOM leaders at a previous press conference, after a meeting with Trinidadian Prime Minister, Keith Rowley.

“We must collectively do more to help the Haitian people chart a path toward elections and a political solution,” he told reporters, amid “unprecedented violence.”

Since 2016, no elections have been held in Haiti. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, appointed just 48 hours before the last president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in July 2021, faces questions about his legitimacy.

In his speech to the CARICOM heads of government, Guterres agreed that “a political solution is not yet on the horizon”, although he emphasized that he had “hope and optimism”.

“Let us be clear: there can be no lasting security without strengthened democratic institutions, and there can be no strong democratic institutions without a radical improvement in the security situation,” he stressed.

The United Nations has expressed alarm at the violence imposed by gangs terrorizing the poorest country in the Americas.

UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said last week that the situation in Haiti “has never been that bad,” citing cases of girls being raped and boys recruited by criminal gangs.

On Wednesday, the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is expected to take part in the CARICOM summit, which will meet with Henry.

No country has yet announced its willingness to lead an intervention force. Brazil and Canada are the most involved in the discussions, but Washington prefers to support the strengthening of local police.

Guterres claimed that “the challenges we see in Haiti require greater commitment and greater solidarity.”