Oct 10 (Reuters) – The United States and Canada should take command of a “rapid reaction force” to deal with growing insecurity in Haiti, gripped by armed gangs, the government said. The Haitian Ambassador to the United States.
“We want our neighbors, like the United States, like Canada, to take the initiative and act quickly,” Bocchit Edmond said in a phone interview Monday.
Armed gangs have been blockading an oil terminal (Varreux) near Port-au-Prince since last month, paralyzing transport and forcing businesses and hospitals to close, just as the country faces a new cholera outbreak.
➦ Haiti-UN confirms 32 cases of cholera and 16 deaths
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry last week appealed to the international community to send an armed force to the island, where police are overwhelmed in insufficient numbers.
The United States said Saturday it is considering Haiti’s request, while Canada’s State Department said on Friday that 19 member countries of the Organization of American States have pledged to help Haitians amid the crisis.
For Bocchit Edmond, the life of the head of government is at stake: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021.
In a letter to the Security Council, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, formulated proposals for increased support for security in Haiti.
(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth in Miami; French version Dina Kartit, editing by Sophie Louet)
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