As he visits the Dominican Republic on the final stop of his five-day overseas mission to the region, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sending strong assurances that the Trump administration is not shutting down the United Nations-authorized and heavily U.S.-financed multinational armed force trying to help neighboring Haiti root out deadly armed gangs.
On Thursday, Rubio called Kenyan President William Ruto to thank him for the Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti, which remains fully operational, a State Department spokesperson said. As the two leaders spoke, a new contingent of 144 Kenyan police officers including 24 women was en route to Port-au-Prince from Nairobi aboard a charter Kenya Airways flight to beef up the struggling mission, which also received a contingent of 70 military soldiers from El Salvador on Tuesday.
The Kenyans arrival at Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Aircraft coincided with that of three large helicopters from El Salvador so that the Central American contingent can conduct medical and casualty evacuations of mission personnel.
While still less than 2,500 security personnel, the new deployments add significant muscle to the mission, whose small footprint and lack of equipment, such as helicopters, have made it difficult to take down powerful gangs and hold ground after carrying out joint operations with the Haiti National Police.
Both U.S. and Kenyan officials had been on an information blitz ahead of Thursday’s deployment amid reports that a $15 million contribution to a U.N.-controlled trust fund to support the Kenya-led mission had been frozen as part of President Trump’s 90-day freeze on virtually all U.S. foreign aid. The money was part of $110.8 million in cash deposits in the basket fund — but also a tiny fraction of the more than $620 million the United States, under the Biden administration, had disbursed for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission.
Ahead of their departure from office this month, the Biden administration had deployed at least 22 military aircraft to Haiti to buttress the under-resourced and ill-equipped mission. They had also allocated an additional $120 million, a source familiar with the financing told the Miami Herald. Contracts, set to expire next month, have also been extended until September.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, seeking to calm concerns, said that the U.S. “has not paused all assistance” for the mission and, on the contrary, Rubio had approved waivers worth millions of dollars for its continued operations.
“The Department of State approved waivers for $40.7 million in foreign assistance to benefit” the Haiti National Police and the Multinational Security Support mission, the embassy said on X. They included logistical contracts to support forward operating bases, a vehicle maintenance contract to support the security mission’s armored fleet, a medical services contract for the Haiti National Police and transportation services for Department of State-provided equipment deliveries, and contracts that support subject matter experts with the Haiti National Police. A number of subject matter experts, or police advisers, contracted to provide support to the MSS and the police by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs had been issued stop work orders last week. While some have returned, others remain furloughed.
Rubio arrived in the Dominican Republic late Wednesday and had a meeting scheduled on Thursday with President Luis Abinader. Though the two had many issues to address, Haiti was a top issue for the Dominican government as it grows increasingly concerned about the prowess of gangs that last year carried out several mass killings and now control as much as 90 percent of the capital. Last year alone, at least 5,626 people were killed as a result of gang violence, self-defense groups and police operations, the U.N. said this week.
The mission currently has security personnel from Jamaica, Belize, the Bahamas, Guatemala and El Salvador. The arrival of the latest contingent of Kenyans, which includes the first female cops from the East African nation, comes at a critical time.
All week, concerns of a gang attack have been growing as the country approaches three critical dates: Friday, Feb. 7, which is historically the day that a new president usually takes office; Feb. 29, which will mark the one-year anniversary since the official public creation of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, and March 7, the date that Leslie Voltaire, the current head of the Transitional Presidential Council, is expected to pass the baton to Fritz Alphonse Jean in the rotating presidency.
Since last week, gang members have been installing themselves in the mountains of Kenscoff, a rural farming community above Port-au-Prince. They’ve massacred farmers, emptied out towns and set up supply lines to receive food and water. Their goal, say local officials, is to take over the last remaining swaths of the capital, including the wealthy enclaves of Fermathe, Pétion-Ville and parts of Kenscoff, not under their control.
Local authorities, who have been unable to reach many of the communities currently under siege, have refrained from giving an exact figure on the death toll. But local residents say that at least 150 people have been killed. They’ve also said the gang members number anywhere between 1,000 and 3,500.
