A South Florida congresswoman is calling on her colleagues in Washington to give the United Nations $40 million to aid in its mission to free Haiti from the violent gangs that have all but taken over the island nation, and that Haiti's prime minister resign from office.
Attacks by powerful gangs on key government targets began on Feb. 29 across Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince. Gunmen have burned police stations, closed the main international airports and raided the country's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
Scores of people have been killed, and more than 15,000 are homeless after fleeing neighborhoods raided by gangs. Food and water are dwindling as stands and stores selling to impoverished Haitians run out of goods. The main port in Port-au-Prince remains closed, stranding dozens of containers with critical supplies.
“The more we allow the gang members to take over the country and be successful in their plans, the bigger security risk that we have to our country,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D−Miramar, at a press conference in Fort Lauderdale on Monday. “So it's important that we actually can fund, as soon as possible, this mission and move forward.”
Cherfilus-McCormick, who said she still has family in Haiti, also called for Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.
“Prime Minister Henry has been working and trying to put the country together, but it's been deterring [deteriorating] even further. The gangs have said if he does return to Haiti, that there would be a civil war,” she said.
The mission is a multinational security mission intended to “stabilize the country, remove the gang members’ influence, and have a transition that will allow democracy to stand,” said Cherfilus-McCormick, the first Haitian-American member of Congress from Florida.
The U.S., along with Canada and France, plan to send over $250 million to the UN mission, with a majority of that coming from Congress, who have already sent $10 million, Cherfilus-McCormick said.
But Republicans, who control the House, want more information about the plan before they approve the rest of the money.
“Every day that we are waiting on appropriate funding, every moment that we're waiting on this mission, is every single day that we are actively losing lives of Haitian people and Americans who are in Haiti,” she said. “It becomes even more critical for us to move forward as quick as possible and support this mission, but also support the governance portion, which is that transitional government.”
Cherfilus-McCormick told reporters in South Florida on Monday that gangs had taken over the airport, making it harder to flee the island.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to meet with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica on Monday as part of an urgent push to solve the spiraling crisis in Haiti, while pressure grows on Henry to resign or agree to a transitional council.
She also wants a strong justice system put in place in Haiti.
“Without justice, these gangs would just lay dormant and come right back when they have an actual election and start terrorizing the people. We've seen this habit over and over again," she said.
It was not clear if Henry, locked out of his own country after surging violence, would attend the closed-door meeting. It was organized by members of a regional trade bloc known as Caricom, which for months has pressed for a transitional government in Haiti as protests demanded Henry’s resignation.
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“The international community must work together with Haitians towards a peaceful political transition,” U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Nichols will attend the meeting.
But concerns remain that a long-awaited solution might not be found. Caricom said in a statement on Friday announcing the urgent meeting in Jamaica that while "we are making considerable progress, the stakeholders are not yet where they need to be.”
White House seeks a 'political accord'
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week that the Biden administration is not pushing for Henry's immediate resignation.
"We are definitely not pushing the Prime Minister to resign," she told White House reporters last Thursday. "But we have underscored that now is the time to finalize a political accord to help set Haiti on a path to a better future."
Henry landed in Puerto Rico last week after being denied entry into the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
When the attacks began, Henry was in Kenya pushing for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country that has been delayed by a court ruling.
A growing number of people are demanding Henry's resignation. He has not made any public comment since the attacks began.
The U.N. Security Council on Monday urged Haiti’s gangs “to immediately cease their destabilizing actions,” including sexual violence and the recruitment of children, and said it expects that a multinational force will deploy as soon as possible to help end the violence. It urged the international community to support the Haitian National Police by backing the force's deployment.
Council members also expressed concern at the limited political progress and urged all political actors to allow free and fair legislative and presidential elections.
A U.N. delegation attending Monday's meeting includes the secretary-general's chief of staff Courtenay Rattray, Undersecretary-General Atul Khare, who is in charge of U.N. logistics, and Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča, who is in charge of the Americas in the U.N. political office.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is calling for the urgent deployment of the multinational force and that the mission be adequately funded, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Currently, funding is at only $10.8 million, with officials in Kenya demanding more than $230 million.
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.
