Some worry that what for months has been slow to a state of lawlessness may have accelerated into full-blown chaos, requiring more urgent attention from the international community. News of the prime minister’s request for security assistance has been reported before on Friday by the Miami Herald.
A senior official from another Caribbean country said that members of Henry’s government had been discussing for several months the need for an international peacekeeping force, but did not directly ask for it. support. The official added that while many countries in the region acknowledge that Haiti is out of control and that its problems are likely to spread across the Western Hemisphere, they have been stretched economically and will be very difficult. reluctance to commit resources abroad.
It is not clear how the Haitian people will receive an international security force, who might see it as interfering in their own affairs. According to the World Health Organization, United Nations peacekeepers in the country from 2004 to 2017 sexually abused and introduced cholera into the country, starting an outbreak that killed nearly 10,000 people. died, according to the World Health Organization.
“There is a lack of will from our leaders,” said Reginald Delva, a Haitian security consultant. The request for outside intervention, Mr. Delva said, “confirms that they have no intention of solving the problem, because it is, in fact, a problem that can be solved with local resources.”
There is little desire for Washington to intervene in another foreign country, following the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, amid pledges to increase troops to Europe and the upcoming midterm elections.
In recent weeks, gangs have blocked entrances to the main fuel depot in Port-au-Prince, exacerbating widespread fuel shortages, forcing hospitals to close and affecting jobs. distribution of water, further hampering efforts to control cholera outbreaks. Bruno Maes, UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, warned that insecurity is preventing Haitian people from buying soap and collecting garbage, allowing disease to spread mainly through contaminated water.
“With violence and insecurity on the rise, many of Haiti’s poorest families have no choice but to drink and use unsafe water,” Maes said in a statement this week. “Cholera can easily spread like wildfire across Haiti if people continue to have no or limited access to basic health services, water and sanitation due to unsafety.”
