Summary: Haiti has collapsed into chaos and violence as armed gangs have overwhelmed government forces in the last month. While progress has been made in winning commitments from many countries to participate in a United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support Mission, no forces have been deployed to the country. Comments below from Patrick Duddy, senior adviser for Global Affairs at Duke University and a former ambassador to Venezuela who worked nearly three decades in the Foreign Service, are available for use in your coverage.
Quotes:
“The situation on the ground in Haiti, especially in the capital of Port-au-Prince, is as dangerous as it has been in decades,” says Patrick Duddy, senior adviser for Global Affairs at Duke University and a former ambassador to Venezuela who worked nearly three decades in the Foreign Service.
“Tens of thousands have reportedly fled the city. Basic services have collapsed. Hospitals and clinics are all understaffed and desperate for supplies. Local staff have sometimes been reduced to sleeping in the available gurneys, afraid to venture out into the streets. Kidnappings are rampant. Food is in short supply. Bodies are sometimes left to rot in the tropical sun. The beleaguered Haitian National Police are outmanned and outgunned by the gangs.”
“Most foreign diplomats have left Haiti, and the U.S. embassy is operating with reduced staff. In August 2023, the U.S. embassy advised American citizens to leave the country ‘as soon as possible.’ Nevertheless, hundreds of Americans remain and many have asked for help getting out. At present, however, the best the U.S. can do is ferry a small number out to the neighboring Dominican Republic by helicopter as the gangs prevent safe access to the main airport. Florida has been evacuating some Americans from the airport in Cap-Haitien, but getting there for those in other parts of the country is dangerous.”
“The U.S. has been coordinating closely with other Caribbean nations and working diligently to build support for the U.N.-authorized Multinational Security Support Mission. This has involved securing commitments for other nations to deploy forces as well as pledges of money to a United Nations fund. Kenya was the first country to pledge forces. Nairobi committed to sending 1,000 police officers. Since the Kenyan announcement, others have indicated a willingness to participate as well but the exact form the mission will take, how it will be organized, how funds will be managed, and when and in what sequence these different national forces will deploy remains unclear.”
“Perhaps the greatest questions that remain unanswered have to do with what conditions on the ground would have to look like to get the Multinational Security Support Mission into the country and be supplied. Some have suggested that a short-term deployment of a highly capable military force, possibly from the U.S., may be necessary to establish a modicum of order before others agree to deploy.”
“Given our own fraught history in the region, including Haiti, and our commitments elsewhere, this is something the U.S. does not wish to take on but may not be able to avoid. In the meantime, the Haitian people continue to suffer in nightmarish circumstances.”
Bio:
Patrick Duddy, a former ambassador to Venezuela who worked nearly three decades in the Foreign Service, is a senior adviser for Global Affairs at Duke University. From 2007 to 2010 he served as the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela for both Presidents Bush and Obama. Duddy also served as deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere responsible for the Office of Caribbean Affairs as well as other regional portfolios, as consul general in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and at U.S. embassies in Bolivia, Panama, Paraguay, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Chile.
For additional comments, contact Patrick Duddy at:
patrick.duddy@duke.edu
Media Contact:
Steve Hartsoe
steve.hartsoe@duke.edu
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