Secretary of State Antony Blinken has travelled to Haiti to show the United States’ support for a multinational effort to combat gang violence in the Caribbean nation.
Blinken arrived in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, where he met with interim Prime Minister Garry Conille and announced a new surge of humanitarian aid.
“At this critical moment, we do need more funding, we do need more personnel to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission,” Blinken told reporters.
Vast stretches of Haiti have fallen under gang control since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. That includes an estimated 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince.
The Haitian government has struggled to regain control and maintain peace, amid its own crisis of legitimacy.
Just one day before Blinken’s visit, Haiti’s interim government expanded an existing state of emergency to include the entire country, as the violence spills into its 10 departments.
Previously, the state of emergency had only applied to the Ouest department, a populous area where Port-au-Prince is located.
But a spokesperson for Prime Minister Conille said the expanded emergency declaration reflects gang battles unfolding in departments like Artibonite, a large rice-growing region.
The violence has forced a record 578,074 people from their homes in 2024, marking the largest internal, crime-driven displacement crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.
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