Guatemalan diplomat Edmond Auguste Mulet Lesieur who was the past director of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah) force in Haiti, recommended urgent actions to attend to the present humanitarian crisis in Haiti providing supplies of food to the Haitians.
He urged an international conference be held where Latin American, European Union, Canadian, United States, France and Spain meet to take decisions on the situation in Haiti that he said is now out of control. Mulet recommends the US Southern Command install its forces in Haiti to bring food supplies to the population. “At this time there needs to be immediate action, and I do not see anyone with better logistics capacity to be able to do this,” he told Listin Diario.
He warned droves of Haitians would throng the border seeking food and refuge. He added that the Dominican Republic would feel the consequences of the crisis when the Haitians in large numbers cross the border to find food and protection. He said no military action will be enough to stop crowds of 80,000 or more Haitians that may want to cross the border at the same time. He estimates more than 4 million people go hungry every day in Haiti.
“There will be here (DR) throngs of people and they will go to all the countries and islands in the Caribbean, and to Florida, because the people are hungry,” he said. “And what are we going to do? Are we going to shoot?” he asked.
Mulet said the issue in Haiti is the lack of institutions, of governance, the corruption and presence of drug trafficking that benefit many sectors and the political, economic and social elites of Haiti. “Haiti is a failed state, your typical failed state,” he said. He said there is no justice, impunity is high and there is a precarious jail system. He expressed his concern that three years ago, US President Donald Trump cut aid to peace operations in Haiti and proposed the end to the Minustah force. He said there is no longer a military presence in Haiti.
Mulet had served as the last Chief of Staff to former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Previously, he was Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
2 December 2019