Insecurity: Haiti requests troops from US, UN

Haiti has requested troops from Washington and the United Nations to secure its ports, airport, and other strategic sites.

While disclosing this on Friday July 9, 2021, an official, who has a knowledge of the situation, stated that the request followed the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, which created a power vacuum in the crisis-hit Caribbean nation.

The US has already stated that it will send the FBI and other agents to Port-au-Prince, two days after Moise was assassinated in his home.

Following the massacre, “We imagined that mercenaries could demolish some infrastructure in order to create chaos… We made this request during a conversation with the US Secretary of State and the UN “Mathias Pierre, the elections minister said.

Both the US State Department and the Pentagon verified having received a request for “security and investigatory assistance” and stated that officials are in contact with Port-au-Prince, but did not specify whether military troops would be dispatched.

The UN did not respond immediately to a request for comment. A UN diplomatic source previously stated that a Security Council resolution was required to carry out the Haitians’ request.

Washington already had expressed its desire to help with the Haitian enquiry, and White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday that senior FBI and other officials would be planning to head to the Caribbean as quickly as practical.

The decision came as rioting erupted about who could have orchestrated the ingenious assassination, with the majority of the hit squad’s Colombian and American members either dead or in detention and no clear motive revealed.

Amid the uncertainty, three men are being touted as potential leaders of the 11 million-person country, more than half of whom are under the age of 20. There is no functioning parliament.

After days of palsy in the capital, Port-au-Prince saw the cautious return of people to the streets, shops reopening, and public transportation resuming on Friday morning — but with a pall of trepidation.

People scurried to stockpile necessities at supermarkets and waited in line to buy propane for cooking in preparation for more unrest.

“I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow or the next day… I’m bracing myself for a bad day, “Marjory, a resident of Port-au-Prince, told AFP as she and her husband stocked up on supplies at a store.

Gang activity, which is common in the former French colony, flared up again on Friday, with conflicts between groups crippling a freeway.

According to Flightradar data, the city’s airport, which had been closed following the attack, appeared to have reopened.

As the horror of the killing donned off, many in the poorest country in the Americas demanded answers.

“Foreigners came to the country to commit this heinous crime. We, the Haitians, are shocked “AFP was told by a resident of the capital.

“We need to figure out who’s behind this,” he added.

The attack was carried out by a 28-member hit squad of Colombians and Americans, according to police, who are still looking for the attack’s masterminds.

Moise’s security team is under investigation and has been summoned to appear in court.

Others here have theorized about security agents’ possible involvement in the killing, complicating things.

“The president of the Republic, Jovenel Moise, was deposed by his security agents,” former Haitian senator Steven Benoit said Friday on Magik9 radio.

“Colombians did not murder him. The Haitian government hired them.”