Jamaica prepares mission to confront violence in Haiti

Kingston, Aug 5. - The Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) prepares a mission to Haiti to confront gang violence in Port-au-Prince, local media outlet The Gleaner reported.

The deployment will take place in the coming weeks, although it is still unknown if it will form part of a joint operation with other member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said at a press conference that his country's commitment still stands. We cannot reach a thousand troops, but we will send what we can, he affirmed.

He added that the decisions made cannot have a negative impact on Jamaica's own security challenges; but regardless of how we feel about the situation in Haiti and how it might affect Jamaica, in the heart of every Jamaican is sympathy and solidarity, he said.

However, Myrtha Désulmé, founder and president of the Haiti-Jamaica Society, expressed her discomfort at any planned military intervention, saying that what Haiti needs is not another destructive intervention disguised as a humanitarian mission.

The United States and the UN, which have such a catastrophic record in Haiti, are seeking political cover from CARICOM, Canada, Jamaica, Kenya, or whoever they can get it, for a military intervention that blindly pursues the foreign agenda, against the will and interests of the Haitian people, denounced.

She also expressed the importance of Caricom's solidarity to effectively apply Resolution 2653 of the UN Security Council, which stops the flow of arms to Haiti and renders the gangs inoperative.

Preparations for the Jamaica Defense Force are underway, while Kenya plans to lead a multinational force in the Caribbean country, with a thousand police officers.

The Bahamas, for its part, established its commitment to send 150 support people if they approve the United Nations Security Council resolution presented by the United States.

Haiti is experiencing an escalation of violence between armed gangs and the police that is fueling a humanitarian crisis that has caused the displacement of thousands of people. (Text: PL)(File/The Gleaner)