Jose Antonio Gomez, the Minister of Defence confirmed the decision of the Chilean government to withdraw its Peace keeping troops, after 13 years of presence in the United Nations Stabilization Mission (Minustah) in Haiti.

Minister Gomez explained that the process of withdrawal of the army will begin in April 2017 and will take three to six months. "This decision was officially communicated to the United Nations, therefore, we gave the order to withdraw," explained Gomez, "The United Nations hopes that after the parliamentary and presidential elections, Haiti will stabilize."

Recall that the first Chilean military presence in Haiti, dates back to 2004, after the fall of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Chile sent at the time a contingent of about 500 men as part of the Minustah.

At present, the Chilean armed forces are composed of about 340 soldiers on the ground, over 47 assigned to management of the helicopter, 11 police officers (UNPol) and 5 officers to headquarters of the Minustah, staff that will be transferred to other Mission of Peace in the world.

SL/ HaitiLibre