WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States (US) ambassador to the United Nations (UN) is visiting crisis-wracked Haiti on Monday as a political transition and anti-gang international security mission are starting to take shape.
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield is due to hold talks with the country’s transitional presidential council and new Prime Minister Garry Conille during the day-long trip.
Thomas-Greenfield’s visit comes just days after recently deployed Kenya police started patrolling parts of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Kenya is deploying hundreds of police officers as part of an international force to help Haiti tackle its soaring insecurity.
The country has long been rocked by gang violence, but conditions sharply worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince, saying they wanted to overthrow then-prime minister Ariel Henry.
Unelected and unpopular, Henry stepped down in April, handing over control to the transitional government, tasked with leading the country toward its first elections since 2016.
Conille last week announced emergency measures to combat unrest in 14 communes reeling under the control of gangs.
The UN-approved, Kenya-led mission, with an initial duration of one year, will total 2,500 personnel from countries that also include Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, the Bahamas, and Barbados.
The United States has ruled out sending forces but is contributing funding and logistical support to the mission.
The violence in Port-au-Prince has affected food security and humanitarian aid access, with much of the city in the hands of gangs accused of abuses including murder, rape, looting, and kidnappings.