At a July 6 meeting of the UN Security Council, Russian and Chinese diplomats pointedly opposed the urgent calls made by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to send a “robust” international security force to Haiti to support and equip the Haitian National Police (PNH) so as to curb gang violence.
In the past week, Guterres, backed by the Biden administration, has been lobbying hard for this proposal, arguing it’s the only way to get the country’s security situation under control. Guterres, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and their “partners,” tried to get commitments for the plan at the July 3-5 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) conference in Trinidad, but so far no country has offered to lead such an intervention.
At the UNSC meeting, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy and Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun sharply opposed the proposed international security force. Both diplomats of course recognized the dire security situation and suffering of the Haitian people and supported the efforts of UN agencies and other international organizations to continue to provide humanitarian assistance while also stressing the need for a viable political process.
