U.S. lawmakers denounce a crisis that has “gone on too long in Haiti” and urge Joe Biden to act immediately

U.S. lawmakers are urging Biden’s administration to appoint a new special envoy to Haiti. Sounding the alarm on the deteriorating situation in Haiti, these members of Congress are urging Biden’s administration to reorient its policy toward Haiti. “American policy towards Haiti must be rooted in fair treatment, justice, and partnership.” said the Congresswoman from the Seventh District of Massachusetts. Ayanna Pressley believes it is urgent for the U.S. government to “fill special envoy vacancy”.

This is also the opinion of the representative of the ninth district of New York who calls on the head of the U.S. state to “[do] the right thing! Appoint a special envoy and protect the honorable people of Haiti!” Yvette D. Clarke believes that “the Haitian people deserve a promise from our nation to fight for their families and communities in the face of too many tragedies. ” wrote Yvette D. Clarke on her twitter account adding that, “This has gone on long enough.

For her part, the representative of the Tenth District of Florida laments the fact that there is no special envoy in Haiti for almost a year. “Today I am asking the president to appoint a new special envoy because more needs to be done to protect the health, safety, human rights and dignity of Haitian families in Haiti and here at home,” the former Orlando police chief said in a message on her twitter account.

In a letter sent to President Joe Biden, representatives  Val Demings, Yvette Clarke, Ayanna Pressley and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick stressed the urgent need for a new special envoy to Haiti. “Mr. President, it is with the utmost urgency that we ask you to appoint a new special envoy to the Republic of Haiti,” the letter reads, recalling that “Haiti has not had an elected government” for more than a year,  according to a Miami Herald report cited by Reuters, which claims to have contacted a spokesman for the White House National Security Council who, according to the newspaper, reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to support Haiti by providing aid and supporting a “Haitian solution to the current political impasse.

It has been about 11 months since U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote resigned in protest of the treatment of Haitian migrants under the Del Rio Bridge in Texas. Daniel Foote also lamented the fact that his recommendations regarding the Haitian crisis were never taken into account by the State Department.

The former ambassador had, among other things, recommended that the U.S. administration give priority to Haitian actors in order to find a way out of the crisis. He had publicly supported the Montana Agreement which, according to him, is the result of the necessary consensus that could allow for a solution to the crisis. He also denounced the PHTK regime for being responsible for the current situation in Haiti. He was also opposed to the appointment of Dr. Ariel Henri to the primacy for his alleged involvement in the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise.

But none of Mr. Foote’s recommendations were taken into account. The U.S. government continues to support the PHTK regime in defiance of the demands of the Haitian people.