US, Mexico Prepare International Aid Mission to Haiti

The United States and Mexico said Monday they are preparing a U.N. resolution Monday that would authorize "an international assistance mission" to help improve security in crisis-wracked Haiti so desperately needed humanitarian aid can be delivered to millions in need with a mandate to use military force if necessary.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council as thousands across Haiti organized protests on Monday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The demonstrations came on the day the country commemorated the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a slave who became the leader of the world's first Black republic.

The U.S. ambassador said that the proposed "non-U.N." mission would be limited in time and scope and be led by "a partner country" that was not named "with the deep, necessary experience required for such an effort to be effective."

She said the resolution being worked is a "direct response" to a request on Oct. 7 by prime minister Henry and the Haitian Council of Ministers for international assistance to help restore security and alleviate the humanitarian crisis, and reflects one option in a letter from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the council on Oct. 9 that called for deployment of a rapid action force by one or several U.N. member states to help Haiti's National Police.

Haiti has been gripped by inflation, causing rising food and fuel prices, and exacerbating protests that have brought society to the breaking point.Daily life in Haiti began to spin out of control last month just hours after the prime minister said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double. Gangs blocked the entrance to the Varreux fuel terminal, leading to a severe shortage of fuel at a time that rising prices have put food and fuel out of reach of many Haitians, clean water is scarce, and the country is trying to deal with a cholera outbreak.

Political instability in Latin America's poorest country has simmered ever since last year's still-unsolved assassination of Haiti's president Jovenel Moïse, who had faced opposition protests calling for his resignation over corruption charges and claims that his five-year term had ended. Moïse had dissolved the majority of Parliament in January 2020 after failing to hold legislative elections in 2019 amid political gridlock.

Thomas-Greenfield said the resolution authorizing the security mission is coupled with a resolution obtained by The Associated Press last week that would impose an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on influential Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, nicknamed "Barbeque." It also would target other Haitian individuals and groups who engage in actions that threaten the peace, security or stability of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, according to the text obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The U.S. ambassador stressed that the United States is "keenly aware of the history of international intervention in Haiti, and specifically of concerns about the council authorizing a response that could lead to an open-ended peacekeeping role."

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