U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged on Saturday foreign governments with strong security forces to help Haiti fight a surge in gang violence.
Guterres made the appeal after he met with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, civil society leaders, U.N. staff and the heads of various political parties during his one-day trip to the Caribbean country.
Speaking to Haiti's media, Guterres said: “Now is not the time to forget Haiti or weaken our solidarity with its people who are in need of urgent humanitarian aid.”
“I continue to urge the Security Council to authorize the immediate deployment of a strong international force to assist the Haitian National Police in its fight against the gangs,” he affirmed.
Guterres said he spoke about the issue with Henry, as well as the need to hold credible elections.
“I am not here to tell Haitians what to do. I am here to listen to them and to encourage them to build consensus as broadly as possible to move the transition process forward,” he noted.
Henry, who took the office since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, has been under pressure to hold elections.
However, experts have pointed out that it is impossible to do so given the current level of violence in the country, with gangs controlling an estimated 80% of the capital.
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