The U.N. head believes ‘Haiti can be rescued.’ Here’s what he says needs to happen

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Saturday urged the international community to continue to provide funding and equipment to Haiti’s beleaguered police force.

But he also said he’s convinced that only a “robust” international force can help the police dismantle the country’s terrorizing armed gangs.

“The gangs have created a terror situation in Haiti that doesn’t allow any meaningful economic activity, and undermines the humanitarian support and that is a serious obstacle to any political process,” Guterres said in an interview with the Miami Herald after landing in Fort Lauderdale onboard a commercial flight from Port-au-Prince.

Guterres’ visit to a crisis-ridden Haiti was his first as secretary general and comes amid ongoing negotiations in New York about the fate of the U.N.’s political office in Port-au-Prince. The office’s mandate expires later this month and the U.N. Security Council on Thursday will hear debate about the deteriorating situation in Haiti.

During his day-long visit in the country, Guterres met with members of political parties and civil society as well as Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Following the talks, Guterres said, he believes “Haiti can be rescued from the present situation.”

To achieve this, however, the country needs the Security Council to approve of a “robust” security force to accompany the ill-equipped and undermanned Haiti National Police and the ongoing political process needs to have credibility.

Haiti is currently being governed by a caretaker government, led by Henry, who came to power days after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Moïse was shot to death inside his bedroom two years ago this month.

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With the presidential murder still unresolved, Haitians have been at odds in the country over how it should be governed in the absence of an elected president or Parliament — the last 10 members of whom ended their terms in office in January. The constitutional crisis has led the United States and others in the international community to call for “a broad” political consensus without defining exactly what it constitutes, in order to tackle the security crisis and take the country to elections.

Last month, after three days of talks in Jamaica led by three former Caribbean prime ministers, between Henry and dozens of Haitian civic and political actors, Haitians still failed to reach an accord. But they agreed to keep talking — a step that Guterres stressed was an important one.

There are still areas of disagreement among Haitians, he said, but it was clear during his discussions on Saturday that it’s essential for the dialogue to continue “in order for a credible, inclusive process to be fully established and in order to create conditions, when security also allows” for elections.

“I believe that the support of [the Caribbean Community] and the support of the international community as a whole will be an important aspect in which there is still a different perspective on the way forward to lead to the largest possible consensus,” he said. “I witnessed today that there is a clear will to move forward.”

Guterress’ visit follows that of several other high-level United Nations officials including the head of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell and the United Nation’s independent expert on human rights William O’Neill. They all highlighted the country’s dire situation with 5.2 million Haitians in need of humanitarian assistance, including 3 million children, and the toll the violence by armed groups is having on the wearing population.

In addition to being forced out of their homes, Haitians are also the victims of ransom kidnappings and brutal sexual violence, which Guterres said, “touches every aspect of public and private life in the country.”

“Port-au-Prince is surrounded by armed gangs who block the main roads leading to the northern and southern departments, control access to water and food, health care,” he said in a press conference before leaving Port-au-Prince, where he also expressed solidarity with the country’s estimated 12 million residents. “I remain deeply concerned about the extreme vulnerability of populations to these predatory gangs — including the disproportionate impact of this violence on women and girls.”

On Sunday, Guterres will travel to Trinidad and Tobago to attend the gathering of Caribbean Community leaders, CARICOM. The 15-member regional bloc, which Haiti is a member of, is celebrating 50 years since its founding. The crisis in Haiti is among the items to be discussed. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also scheduled to attend the gathering.

Blinken’s visit follows that of Vice President Kamala Harris, who last month met with CARICOM leaders and the president of the Dominican Republic in The Bahamas. In addition to lauding the Biden administration’s commitment to the region, Harris also implored Caribbean leaders to support the push by the U.S., Guterres and others for the deployment of a force to Haiti, which the country’s caretaker government first requested back in October.

During his Haiti visit, Guterres took the opportunity to clarify just what kind of force he is advocating. During one meeting a member of the Montana Group, a coalition of civil society organizations pushing for a different kind of transition, had the impression that he was advocating for a military force that would be a kind of occupying force, he said.

“That’s completely different from what I’ve been advocating, and what we are proposing to the Security Council. What we need is a robust security force to be there working with the police, the Haitian police, in order to create enough muscle to be able to dismantle the gangs,” Guterres said. “But this force would not be accompanied by a political mission like it is the case in peacekeeping operations. It would not be essentially a military force.”

Still, nine months after backing the Haitian government’s request, Guterres acknowledged that there are still no countries offering to lead a deployment despite some like Jamaica, expressing interests.

“I think it’s time now to make an extra effort to have one country willing to be the core of the force,” he said. “We need a country that has the kind of robust security apparatus that allows for the force to be truly effective. That is, in my opinion, the issue that we must solve. Once this issue is solved, I am optimistic the Security Council will not create any obstacle to an operation like the one I mentioned.”