U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Jamaica to meet with Caribbean leaders amid escalating gang violence in Haiti, the State Department announced Monday.
The Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convened a “High-Level Meeting on Haiti” to discuss a proposal “to expedite a political transition in Haiti through the creation of a broad-based, independent presidential college as well as the deployment of a Multinational Security Support Mission to address the ongoing security crisis,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote in a statement.
The meeting comes on the heels of an overnight evacuation of non-essential personnel from the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince as gangs have overrun the country’s capital. Gang violence has plagued Haiti since the 2021 assassination of prime minister Jovenel Moïse — who came to power after a series of elections without much of a popular mandate — and the ascent of his successor, Ariel Henry.
The most recent round of violence, a dramatic escalation from what had occurred over the previous three years, began when Henry — who had been expected to step down from his position by February — announced he would not hold democratic elections until 2025. Haiti has no elected officials in its government and has not held elections since 2016.
When Henry flew to Kenya to request the deployment of a United Nations–backed police force to restore order in his country, a prominent gang leader named Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier announced that his group, G9, was joining forces with other gangs in an attempt to oust Henry. Gangs have since attacked banks, prisons, police stations, and the Port-au-Prince airport, while Henry has been unable to return to Haiti following his Kenya visit. Some on the ground have reported indiscriminate killings since the mass gang attacks started.
Dozens of people have reportedly been killed since the recent violence began on February 29, and about 15,000 have been forced to flee their homes.