Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti this Tuesday (25), the first security agents of an international coalition that aims to contain the escalation of violence in the Caribbean country.
The arrival of the police officers was celebrated by Haiti’s Prime Minister, Garry Conille. “Finally, the multinational force is here to support our national police,” said the prime minister at a press conference, according to information from the Reuters agency.
“But I don’t want anyone to doubt our goals. The State will regain power and reassert its authority so that all Haitians can live peacefully in this country,” she promised.
Haiti had requested international security assistance in 2022. Kenya offered to lead the multinational force, but there was a delay because the African country’s courts suspended the deployment of forces to the Caribbean. Now, security agents are finally beginning to arrive in Haiti.
Initially, Kenya sent 400 police officers. In total, 15 other countries, including Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, are expected to send security agents to Haiti, for a peacekeeping mission that should bring together around 2,500 men.
Despite having been ratified by the United Nations Security Council, which created a voluntary fund to help pay for it, it is not a UN peacekeeping mission, like the one led by Brazil and operated in Haiti between 2004 and 2017.
Conille was named prime minister by Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council at the end of May, the third name nominated for the position by the collegiate in just over a month.
The council is tasked with organizing the holding of elections and the formation of a new government by February 2026, amid a crisis of widespread violence promoted by gangs that worsened from February onwards, with the refusal of the then prime minister Ariel Henry in leaving office.
Finally, there was an agreement and he resigned just hours before the Presidential Transition Council took office in April.
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