ONE of the most powerful members in United States President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is scheduled to lead a high-level American delegation to Kingston today for talks with regional leaders on Haiti.

Up to press time on Sunday there was no confirmation from either the Jamaican or US government that Blinken will be present for the hastily convened talks, but
Jamaica Observer sources were adamant that he will arrive in the island early this morning to seek consensus with some Caribbean Community (Caricom) heads of government on how to address the worsening situation in the French-speaking country.

Caricom had invited envoys from the United States, France, Canada, and the United Nations to today’s meeting.

On Saturday, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) confirmed that the meeting of regional heads will take place in Jamaica today to discuss the multiple crises being faced by Haiti, following a week of escalated violence by gangs in the country.

According to the OPM, the meeting will be held under the current chair of Caricom President Irfaan Ali of Guyana.

The meeting “will seek to advance discussions on support for Haiti as well as the way forward for Haitian governance pursuant to Haitian-led and Haitian-owned solutions which have been facilitated under the guidance of the Caricom Eminent Persons Group (EPG), comprised of former prime ministers Bruce Golding of Jamaica, Perry Christie of The Bahamas, and Kenny Anthony of St Lucia,” the OPM release said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in the release, highlighted the deepening security concerns in Haiti and how they could affect not only the residents of the country but also the region.

BLINKEN… will lead US delegation to meeting in Jamaica on Haiti’s crisis (Photo: AFP)

He said, as a result, participation in the meeting from Caricom heads of government in The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as the eight international partner countries and the United Nations invited by the heads of government, would signal the seriousness of the ongoing situation in Haiti.

This meeting will be the latest in a series of facilitation efforts by the regional bloc to advance political dialogue and consensus in Haiti, the release said.

News that Blinken will be in Jamaica came hours after it was announced that members of several diplomatic missions, including staff from the US and the German ambassador, had started leaving Port-au-Prince which has been overrun by gangsters.

The US military said early Sunday it had conducted an operation to “augment the security of the American Embassy at Port-au-Prince, allow its mission operations to continue, and enable non-essential personnel to depart”.

International media entity
AFP reported that the pre-dawn operation was apparently conducted by helicopter flights to and from the airport while a US State Department spokesperson said the embassy “remains open, on limited operations” with reduced personnel.

The months-long unrest has internally displaced 362,000 Haitians, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Saturday.

“Haitians are unable to lead a decent life. They are living in fear, and every day, every hour this situation carries on the trauma gets worse,” Philippe Branchat, the IOM’s chief in Haiti, said in a statement.

“The capital is surrounded by armed groups and danger,” he said. “It is a city under siege.”

On Saturday, dozens of residents sought safety in public buildings, with some successfully breaking into one facility, according to an
AFP correspondent.

And police late Friday repelled gang attacks, including on the presidential palace, and several “bandits” were killed, Lionel Lazarre of the Haitian police union said.

The well-armed gangs recently have attacked critical infrastructure, including two prisons, allowing most of their 3,800 inmates to escape.

Along with some ordinary Haitians, the gangs are seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was due to leave office in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the Opposition until new elections are held.

Washington has asked Henry to enact urgent political reform. He was in Kenya when the violence erupted and is now reportedly stranded in the US territory Puerto Rico.

The UN Security Council gave its green light in October for a multinational policing mission led by Kenya, but that deployment has been stalled by Kenyan courts.

Port-au-Prince and western Haiti are under a month-long state of emergency, and a night-time curfew is in effect until today, though it is unlikely overstretched police can enforce it.

— Additional reporting by AFP