Haiti general strike12/18/2023 ![]() The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Namphy then dismissed the council, whose nine members went into hiding. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.Ĭopyright © 2023 NPR. KELEMEN: And they can see that Haiti's national police force is outgunned and outnumbered by the gangs. RICHARDSON: People mostly want assistance because they see that as it is now, life is not livable. official based there, says that attitude is changing. peacekeeping operation brought cholera to Haiti, and the country has had many failed interventions in the past. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his appeal for an international force for Haiti.ĪNTONIO GUTERRES: And I want to once again ask the international community to understand that an effective solidarity with Haiti is not only a matter of generosity, is essentially a matter of enlightened self-interest, because the present situation of Haiti reflects a threat to the security of the whole region and further afield. ![]() KELEMEN: Standing alongside the Jamaican prime minister recently, U.N. The inescapable fact, however, is that Haiti needs security support. PRIME MINISTER ANDREW HOLNESS: I take the view that with greater effort, we can see a breakthrough towards a better and broader consensus towards a solution in Haiti. ![]() Its prime minister, Andrew Holness, says he's also trying to push forward political talks in a country that is still reeling from the assassination of Haiti's president in July of 2021. Jamaica is one of the few countries that has offered to contribute troops. officials say what's really needed is an outside force, but no country has offered to lead such a mission. So it could be that kidnappings is now, let's say, the primary source of revenue. RICHARDSON: When the escalation happened, we saw an increase in the kidnapping. She says that led to a decrease in violence, but only for a short time before another escalation. imposed sanctions last year on the gangs and on those who financed them. lawmakers and State Department officials. KELEMEN: Richardson was here in Washington to brief U.S. And also the fear of going home and not knowing if your family member would have been kidnapped or killed. RICHARDSON: One young man - he said to me, simply, I was just dreaming of being able to go to sleep and to wake up without the sound of bullets. She's heard harrowing stories about rape and says Haitians keep asking her what it will take for the international community to step in. Haitians, she says, are taking justice into their own hands. KELEMEN: She says she recently met with traumatized students who saw some gang members burned to death in front of their school. And also children are increasingly used by gangs in their operations. And you can just imagine the trauma that children sort of live with. ULRIKA RICHARDSON: There are people being stoned to death in the middle of the day in the streets, and children are being - witnessing these situations. That's according to Ulrika Richardson, who runs the U.N.'s humanitarian operations in Haiti. ![]() MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: There are as many as 300 gangs in Haiti, and they control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. But countries that could step in are reluctant to send peacekeepers because earlier interventions have failed. Aid workers need more security to deliver assistance to the Haitian people. United Nations officials have been calling for member nations to help Haiti, where gangs control the streets and the government is barely functioning. ![]()
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