The UN approved the deployment of multinational forces in Haiti

He UN Security Council approved this Monday the deployment for one year (with the possibility of extension) a multinational forces help for Police of Haitia request that comes a year after it was requested by the government of Haiti itself and immediately supported by the Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

He approved the resolution 13 votes in favor and two abstentions (Russia and China)without a single vote against among the 15 members of the Council, which is a rarity in recent times of great geopolitical division.

In any case, Council sources told EFE that no immediate deployment can be expected, but that this process will take “Several months” before the cops start patrolling the streets of Haiti.

The resolution came out after a long month in which he prepared the draft United States and Ecuador, with the most difficult negotiations regarding the limitation of arms sales to that country, which China wanted to be as extensive as possible, and the US was in favor of limiting certain known criminal groups, Council sources told EFE.

A senior US official explained to reporters this Monday that one of the achievements of this resolution was to strengthen sanctions against “negative actors who encourage street violence and other acts of destabilization”, in relation to gang leaders. , some with enormous effective power and perfectly known, such as the famous “Roštilj”.

Reluctance of Latin America to provide troops

It is known that he will lead the mission of about a thousand agents Kenyawhich will provide the majority of the contingent, and several Caribbean countries – including Jamaica, Barbados and the Bahamas– They also showed their willingness to provide agents, in a number to be determined.

Unlike the Caribbean, it is striking that no Latin American country has taken a step forward in this regard, although Mexico He explained that he contributed in his own way by agreeing to train 660 agents on his soil (550 already trained and 110 currently in process).

The same attitude will be the one you adopt BrazilBrazilian sources told EFE, which ruled out sending agents into the field despite the country’s global diplomatic ambitions.

The American source was confident that once the resolution is approved and countries see that it contains “strong words”, more countries will take the step and will be able to join the project even with troops, especially within the “Western world”.

In particular, they cited the case of Canada and Francewho have shown their willingness to be more involved, after confirming that the resolution clearly states the terms of the deployment.

To clarify its commitment, the US Government will provide two items $100 million eachcomes from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defensesubject to Congressional approval, earmarked for the mission’s logistical needs.

Police mission, not blue helmets

The Secretary-General has indicated from the beginning that his call for a force for Haiti will need support Security Council to have international legitimacy, but ruled out that it was an interposition mission or typical blue helmets, given the tragic experience of the last mission of the type.

In 2017, MINUSTAH withdrew its interposition mission in Haiti after 13 years and amid a major scandal when its members were proven responsible for a water spill that triggered a cholera outbreak that killed more than 7,000 Haitians.

This, along with accusations of sexual abuse, seriously damaged the image of the UN for a long time, so sending a similar mission was completely ruled out.

The forces now deployed will be purely police in nature and will be placed under the command of the Haitian police.