Haiti is enduring the worst crisis in its history with no immediate hopeful improvement in sight.
The Organization of American States (OAS) announced it will host a high-level symposium on Haiti’s security crisis, following public rebukes from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the organization’s inaction amidst escalating violence and instability in the Caribbean nation.
The event, organized by Haiti’s Presidential Transition Council (CPT), is scheduled for Thursday, 22 May 2025 at 9am in the Americas Hall at the OAS headquarters in Washington. It will gather Haitian authorities, member state representatives, and international experts.
According to a statement on CPT’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, the symposium was arranged after counselor Smith Augustin met with OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro in April.
“In a context marked by the proliferation of armed gangs and transnational crime, the symposium will bring together key actors to discuss concrete ways to support Haitian territorial security,” the CPT stated.
The symposium aims to expose the structural causes of insecurity in Haiti and secure tangible regional cooperation commitments to back the transitional government’s security recovery plan.
The talks will address the impact of transnational organized crime on Haiti’s security and justice institutions, as well as regional response mechanisms, including those under the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism.
Speakers expected at the event include US Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary Barbara Feinstein and Haiti’s Ministers of Justice and Defense, Patrick Pélissier.
Hours before the announcement, the US Secretary of State had leveled strong criticism at the OAS for what he deemed a lack of leadership on the Haitian crisis.
“Organizations like the OAS, to which we contribute significantly, must step up and provide a mission with member countries to tackle Haiti’s problems, which are about to take a very dramatic turn if action is not taken promptly,” he stated during a US Senate hearing.
Haiti is facing one of its worst crises in recent history, with armed groups controlling much of the territory, obstructing humanitarian aid, and threatening institutional stability. Insecurity has led to the collapse of essential services, including healthcare, amidst epidemics and shortages of basic resources.
In the first quarter of this year, official statistics in Haiti indicate that violence attributed to armed gangs has resulted in 1,656 deaths, 580 injuries, 1,600 closed schools, and over one million people displaced from their homes in Port-au-Prince.
The lack of regional attention to the multidimensional crisis in Haiti has practically turned the situation into a bilateral matter, placing the burden of the high cost of security and social services on the Dominican Republic, the only land border with Haiti.
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El Dia
Noticias SIN
DR1 News
22 May 2025