MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2022) Haiti's Ambassador to the United States Bocchit Edmond called on the international community to accelerate negotiations on a possible armed intervention in the island nation to help deal with criminal gangs that may overrun it.
"It is important to... make sure that we take those armed gangs out of business, because if we don't do that urgently, it's a matter of time for them to take over the entire country," Edmond told the Guardian on Sunday.
Earlier this month, the Haitian government urged the US to lift its arms embargo on the country. Edmond reasoned that the government sought to purchase equipment for the police and armed forces.
Haiti has long experienced social, political, and financial instability. The woes only deepened after the devastating 2010 earthquake and the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. Since the assassination of Moise, the country's already understaffed law enforcement agencies have struggled to keep crime at bay as gangs continue to gain in strength.
The UN Security Council agreed last week to impose a targeted arms embargo as well as travel bans and asset freezes on Haitian gang leaders and those who finance them. World powers called on all political actors in Haiti to engage in a meaningful dialogue to overcome the current political stalemate.
