Tuesday January 24, 2023, in Buenos Aires (Argentina), during his speech at the VII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Prime Minister ai.i Ariel Henry called on member countries to participate in a force of intervention in Haiti against organized crime

Excerpt from Prime Minister Henty's speech :

"[...] Mr. President,

Allow me to take the opportunity offered to me to address this assembly, to inform the honorable leaders of the brotherly countries of CELAC on the evolution of the situation in my country. As you all know, Haiti is going through a period of political turbulence and economic and social difficulty, aggravated by a climate of insecurity fueled by armed criminal groups. Their behavior is seriously disrupting the lives of peaceful citizens and my government's efforts to restore democratic institutions.

To deal with this situation, my government addressed to the international community a request which the Secretary General of the United Nations reflected perfectly in the options presented in his letter of September 8, 2022 sent to the President of the Security Council (S/2022/ 747), with a view to encouraging States that can to participate in a specialized multinational force requested by Haiti to help the Haitian security forces to fight against the proliferation of organized crime, the illicit trafficking of arms and ammunition, and eradicate the gangs that have held the country hostage.

I encourage CELAC countries who can, especially those who already know the field, to help us. It is not for us to redo what failed in the past and to start again with the UN formulas which consisted in coming to do the work in place of the Haitians. The new approach we favor is different. This time we are asking for robust support from brotherly countries to support the efforts of local security forces. We need materials, equipment and training for our law enforcement.

At this very moment the United Nations Security Council is debating the Haitian question. Yesterday again the Secretary General reiterated his urgent appeal to member states to make them understand the urgency of acting quickly to support the solutions chosen by Haitian actors https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38686-haiti-security-i-reiterate-the-urgent-need-for-the-deployment-of-an-international-specialized-armed-force-dixit-guterres.html [...]"

At the XII Summit, CELAC in a statement wrote "[...] we encourage member countries that can, to study the options presented by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his letter of September 8, 2022 addressed to the President of the Security Council ( S/2022/747), in order to participate in the specialized multinational force requested by Haiti to help the Haitian security forces to fight against the proliferation of organized crime and the illicit trafficking of arms and ammunition, to eradicate the gangs which taken the country hostage, prevent the free movement of people and goods, limit the access of vulnerable people to humanitarian aid and health care and hamper preparations for the organization of free, transparent and inclusive elections."

HL/ HaitiLibre