Cotonou, Benin (AFP) – Foreign ministers from Caribbean nations and Benin on Wednesday discussed sending troops to Haiti, saying stability in the strife-torn nation was symbolic to “all black people” around the world.

Poverty-stricken Haiti has been ravaged for years by gang violence and political instability.

“For all black people in the world Haiti is symbolic, it is the first black republic in the world, and so if Haiti falls all we black people fall” with it, said Benin’s foreign minister, Olushegun Bakari.

He said discussions were under way to to send troops to Haiti “to support and secure, strengthen security” in the country.

The ministers from the west African nation and a grouping called the Caribbean Community (Caricom) met in Benin’s capital, seeking to deepen cooperation.

The countries hope to double trade between Africa and the Caribbean to $1.8 billion by 2028 and to bolster investment in industries from agriculture to tourism.

The ministers also agreed to promote so-called memorial tourism, allowing nationals from the Caribbean to discover historical sites of Benin linked to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, said a statement issued at the end of the talks.