PORT-AU-PRINCE - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a rare visit to violence-ravaged Haiti on Thursday heard guarded optimism as he promised $45-million in aid, urged greater international support for a new security mission and sought concrete action toward elections.
Blinken was the highest-ranking US official in nearly a decade to visit the country, which has been plagued by instability and whose capital had virtually been taken over by criminal gangs.
On Thursday, Blinken promised $45-million in humanitarian aid, but voiced concern about the long-term future of a Kenya-led police force that has been tasked with stabilising Port-au-Prince and beyond.
He said he would convene talks at the United Nations later this month to raise support for the force, which arrived two months ago and is known as the Multinational Security Support Mission.
"At this critical moment, we do need more funding, we do need more personnel, to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission," he said.
Meeting Blinken, interim Prime Minister Garry Conille acknowledged that Haiti faced an "extremely complex" situation but voiced hope.
"If our partners bear with us, commit to us, we will achieve the goals. Progress we've achieved so far is actually quite remarkable," he said.
The top US diplomat, too, saw reason for optimism.
"What I am seeing is tremendous resilience and the emergence -- the reemergence -- of hope," Blinken said.
Speaking in French, Blinken addressed Haitians at a news conference: "We are with you."
The senior US official zipped in an armoured motorcade through crowded, pothole-ridden streets strewn with garbage for meetings in the safety of the US ambassador's residence, after arriving at an airport where limited commercial flights only recently resumed.
- Seeking elections -
Haiti has not held elections since 2016, widening a political vacuum that has worsened existing security and health crises.
In hopes of moving toward a more legitimate government, the United States and Caribbean nations recently worked to establish a transitional council representing key stakeholders, with Conille as interim prime minister.
"The critical next step that we talked about is setting up an electoral council. We hope to see that stood up soon," Blinken told the coordinator of the transitional council.
Blinken acknowledged that greater security would be the "foundation" for all progress, including on elections.
The coordinator of the transitional council, Edgard Leblanc Fils, said he hoped to move toward the electoral council next week with a goal of elections in November 2025 and a transfer of power in February 2026.
"Progress has been made on security but there remains much to do," Leblanc Fils said.
Gangs in recent years have taken over about 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince as any semblance of government evaporated.
US President Joe Biden's administration has committed $360 million to the multinational mission meant to stabilise the country, including logistical support and equipment, but has also made clear it will not send US troops.
The mission is expected to include about 2,500 police officers, including from Bangladesh, Benin and Jamaica.
But its establishment was repeatedly set back both by a court in Kenya questioning the legality of the mission and by struggles to complete financing for the force, which is estimated to cost about $600 million per year.
To secure funding, the Biden administration has voiced willingness to make the mission a UN peacekeeping operation, after deliberately not putting the force under the UN flag due to grim past memories in Haiti.
The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, which deployed from 2004 to 2017, was tarnished by accusations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and the force's accidental introduction of cholera, which killed some 10,000 people.
As Blinken visited, Port-au-Prince was also facing a new energy challenge, with a key power plant going dark after being stormed by demonstrators angered by recurring blackouts.
Blinken also pressed Haitian leaders to take action against corruption, a serious concern in the country.
The last secretary of state to visit Haiti, John Kerry, met then-president Michel Martelly in 2015.
Last month, US authorities slapped sanctions on Martelly, who mostly lives in Miami, for allegedly trafficking drugs destined for the United States.
Blinken said that the action against Martelly showed that "we will use every tool that we have to hold accountable those who facilitate violence, drug trafficking, instability."
The US secretary of state did not stay overnight in Haiti, landing in Santo Domingo on Thursday for meetings with leaders of the Dominican Republic.
by Leon Bruneau