The United States and its allies continue to multiply meetings on the situation in Haiti. This Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres.
A meeting held around “the need to continue the work of the United Nations to address the urgent security and humanitarian crises in Ukraine and Haiti. “, according to a statement by State Department spokesman Nerd Price. Other topics were also discussed at the high-level meeting.
Another meeting on the situation in Haiti, Ukraine, Russia and Ethiopia also took place between Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and the Secretary General of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anne-Marie Descôtes. “The two officials discussed ‘ongoing joint efforts to support Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war. The two women also discussed efforts to promote peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the State Department informs in a separate statement. Deputy Secretary Sherman and Secretary General Descôtes also “discussed the latest developments in promoting security in Haiti and Ethiopia,” the statement added.
The UN Security Council is struggling to find consensus among its members on sanctions to be adopted against Haitian personalities and the request for foreign troops in Haiti by Ariel Henry. An attempt to vote on Wednesday was not successful. The vote was postponed due to opposition from China and Russia, a permanent member of the council whose membership is mandatory for any council decision.
On Thursday, the Canadian government also held a meeting on the Haitian crisis. The sale of arms and other equipment to Haiti, the sending of military troops to the country of Dessalines were among other points discussed.
The international community is working to find a “way out” of the worsening Haitian crisis. It continues to support Prime Minister Ariel Henry, despite the numerous protests demanding his departure due to his inability to address the problems facing the country. The population continues to bear the brunt of the phenomenon of insecurity that has plagued the country for a very long time. Several members of Ariel Henry’s government have been singled out by the international community for their alleged contribution to fuelling the violence in Haiti. In spite of this alarming situation, the so-called friendly countries of Haiti continue to turn a deaf ear to the desperate cries of a population at the end of its rope.
The United States and its partners have been heavily criticized for their disastrous management of the Haitian situation. In an editorial published Wednesday, the renowned British newspaper The Guardian strongly criticized the Americans for having supported, in the past, “foreign interventions that have led Haiti into disaster,” reports Metronome. Other American media outlets have also criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the Haitian crisis.