UN: 'Armed Action’ Needed In Haiti Amid Growing Crisis

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Facts

  • On Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for "armed action" in Haiti, as a weeks-long gang blockade of the Varreaux terminal in Port-au-Prince continues. Guterres said intervention is needed to, "release the port and to allow for a humanitarian corridor to be established." He added that residents face a "nightmarish" situation.
  • Elsewhere, at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced that the US and Mexico are preparing a proposal to authorize an international "non-UN" mission to help improve security in Haiti.
  • This comes after the Miami Herald reported on Saturday that the Biden admin. had decided to draft a UN Security Council resolution to support the deployment of a "rapid action force" to Haiti.
  • Earlier this month, Guterres proposed that "one or several countries" send a "rapid action force" to support Haiti's police to, "regain control of critical infrastructure targeted by gangs." He also asserted that the Security Council should welcome such a force.
  • An array of nations have been discussing the deployment of a specialized international armed force to Haiti following a plea made by the country's PM Ariel Henry on Oct. 7 to his "international partners" to help stop the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
  • Parts of the capital are currently under the control of armed gangs who have blocked access to the country's central fuel terminal since mid-September. Due to gang violence, and the obstruction of infrastructure, the humanitarian situation has been exacerbated - security in Haiti has deteriorated, while cholera has reemerged among the population.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Associated Press, CNN, Reuters, Le Monde, and Voa.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Peoples Dispatch. Foreign powers are to blame for the ongoing crisis in Haiti - criminal gangs are in cahoots with the US-puppet, illegitimate regime with the aim of provoking chaos and prompting another imperialist intervention. Haitians are fed up with foreign occupations and must be allowed to find a concrete solution for themselves as a sovereign people.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Globe and Mail. The situation in Haiti is worse now than ever before, with gang-related violence affecting even the nation's ability to sustain normal activities. The only way to prevent the country from soon becoming a failed state is to suspend its national sovereignty and put the nation under the custody of international governance on behalf of the UN.

Predictions