US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit violence-ravaged Haiti on Thursday as he looks to consolidate gains by a multinational force and discuss finding new ways of funding.
The high-security visit comes two months after Kenyan police officers arrived in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country to launch a long-awaited mission backed by the United States to start restoring order.
Residents speak of persistent violence of gangs, who seized some 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, but US officials have pointed to signs of progress, including the resumption of commercial flights and an increasing presence by both the international force and Haitian police.
“We are seeing a dramatic increase in patrols and operations designed to restore security and a sense of normalcy in Haiti,” said Brian Nichols, the top US diplomat for the Western Hemisphere.
“But we also need to see progress on the political side,” Nichols told reporters, saying that Blinken will press for elections, which have not been held in Haiti since 2016.
The United States and Caribbean nations in March helped broker a plan that led to the installation of a transitional council…