Canada announced on Thursday that it was leading an assessment mission to Haiti, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Ottawa to discuss establishing an intervention force in the troubled Caribbean country. .

The Canadian delegation must assess the options “to support the Haitian people in the resolution of the humanitarian and security crises” facing the impoverished country and “to restore access to essential goods and services”, in consultation with regional United Nations partners. , the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and others, according to a statement from the Canadian government.

The mission follows calls from the Haitian government and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for international intervention as armed gangs take control of large swathes of the country and a cholera outbreak worsens.

But the idea of ​​an intervention force arouses the mistrust of part of the Haitian population and the UN Security Council, which last week unanimously approved a resolution against the gang leaders but without alluding to a multinational force.

Moreover, no country has offered to lead such a mission and the United States has affirmed that it would support it but without taking the lead.

– Optimism –

Prior to Blinken’s arrival, a senior US official expressed hope that the international intervention in Haiti would move forward and dismissed the pessimistic view that no country would pick up the slack.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Americas, Brian Nichols, said on Wednesday that he was “optimistic” about the possibility of setting up this force within the UN framework and was considering early November as a possible date for its start.

“I think things are progressing normally,” he told reporters, mentioning that it could be “a police force with military elements.”

Nichols also said a “number of countries” have the capability to lead a mission, including Canada, but no decision has been made.

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“I have spoken with dozens of partner nations around the world about the situation in Haiti and there is strong support for a multinational force,” he added.

– Reinforce the police –

Blinken said before his trip that solving Haiti’s problems would be “difficult, if not impossible” without restoring security.

“We need to break the very harmful connection between gangs and certain political elites who fund them, run them and use them to advance their own interests rather than the interests of the country,” Blinken said at an event on Wednesday.

He reiterated the delivery of equipment, including armored vehicles, by the United States and Canada in mid-October.

“If we are able to help break that down and strengthen the Haitian National Police, then I think the government can control security,” he said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said any action must “take into account what Haitians themselves think.”

Joly said Canada would seek to impose sanctions on gang leaders in line with last week’s Security Council resolution, which froze for a year all assets linked to Jimmy Cherizier, nicknamed “Barbecue”, whose groups Armed forces blocked Haiti’s main oil terminal.

Blinken will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visit a Ukrainian refugee center in Ottawa, and on Friday he will travel to Montreal, where he will visit a lithium recycling plant.

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