The United States and Canada announced this Saturday, October 15, 2022 the delivery of “equipment” police for the Haitian police, following the request for help from the Caribbean country plunged into a spiral of health and safety crisis.
“American and Canadian military aircraft have arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to transport essential safety equipment, purchased by the Haitian government, to the director general of the Haitian National Police” (PNH), announced the governments of the United States and Canada in a joint statement.
Fighting the terror of the gangs
“This equipment will help EPN in its fight against criminal agents who foment violence and disrupt the flow of vital humanitarian aid, thereby damaging efforts to stop the cholera epidemic in Haiti,” they added.
Last week, and in the face of a nascent cholera epidemic parallel to the terror exercised by the gangs, the government of Port-au-Prince had asked the international community to send a “specialized armed force”, an appeal made by the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres.
On Wednesday, October 12, the United States declared its readiness to strengthen its humanitarian and security aid, while remaining reserved for sending ground troops.
Security, health crisis and food emergency
Protests and looting occur across the country since 9/11, when the government announced an increase in the price of fuel. And since mid-September, the Varreux terminal – the largest in the country for fuel imports – has been controlled by powerful armed gangs.
According to a United Nations report released on Friday, October 14, gangs control up to 60% of the capital and use rape and sexual violence to “spread fear” and extend their control over a country already plagued by insecurity.
Last week, the United Nations did it too warned of a possible outbreak of cholera cases in Haiti after the disclosure of the first cases of this disease on the island in three years, with 32 confirmed cases and 224 suspected cases as of October 8, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Nearly 10,000 people died of cholera in Haiti between 2010 and 2019.
In addition, some 19,000 people have fallen into the most acute food emergency, having to settle for just one meal a day of poor quality food, the director of the World Food Program (WFP) warned on Friday 14 October. for Haiti, Jean-Martin Bauer.
