SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) 鈥 United States State Secretary Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a multinational force is needed to help Haiti鈥檚 春色直播 Police restore order, echoing recent appeals made by United Nations officials who warn that the country鈥檚 insecurity is worsening.
Blinken briefly spoke about Haiti and other issues during a one-day trip to Trinidad and Tobago, which hosted a three-day conference held by the 15-member Caribbean trade bloc known as Caricom.
Caribbean leaders have been meeting regularly about the situation in Haiti. Caricom Chair and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit noted that the group supports Haitian-led solutions but he also called on the U.S. for help.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret, Mr. Secretary, that the United States will have to play a very crucial role,鈥 he said as he introduced Blinken on the conference鈥檚 final day.
Blinken spoke one day before the U.N. Security Council was scheduled to meet and talk about Haiti amid mounting pressure on the international community to deploy a foreign armed force that Haitian Prime Minister .
So far, the council only has approved sanctions on gang members and high-profile figures believed to support gangs that now control an estimated 80% of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where .
Haiti鈥檚 春色直播 Police is underfunded and lacks resources to fight the surge in violence, with only an estimated 13,000 active-duty officers serving a country of more than 11 million people. Some Haitians, tired and frustrated of the violence, aimed at killing suspected gang members.
The country鈥檚 understaffed police force desperately needs between 1,000 and 2,000 international police experts trained to combat armed gangs, U.N. independent expert for Haiti William O鈥橬eill said Wednesday.
O鈥橬eill, who has been working on Haiti for over 30 years, told a news conference: 鈥淚 have never seen the situation as bad as it is now.鈥
During a 10-day trip to the impoverished Caribbean nation that concluded last week, he met with senior Haitian 春色直播 Police leaders, including the inspector general, who told him 80 officers have been suspended and are under investigation for misconduct or criminal activity.
He also described as 鈥渉orrific鈥 conditions at the national penitentiary in the capital, pointing to squalid, hot and overcrowded cells where detainees are kept for hours at a time with no water or toilet facilities. O鈥橬eill stressed that over 80% of those in detention have never been tried, saying he talked to a man accused of a petty theft who had been in prison for seven years awaiting trial.
O鈥橬eill said Haitians he talked to from all walks of life want outside help, but are very clear they don鈥檛 want another U.N. peacekeeping force. He said they do want expertise in tackling gang violence to support the police.
Blinken said he supports calls for a multinational force to restore security: 鈥淭his is an area of intense focus for us.鈥
He also promised to keep pushing financial institutions to defer debt payments in the case of natural disasters, with the Caribbean region battered by storms that have become increasingly stronger.
In addition, Blinken pledged nearly $5.5 million to help small farmers increase their productivity and access technology as the region fights climate change.
鈥淥ne in two people in the Caribbean cannot afford a healthy diet,鈥 he noted.
Accompanying Blinken was U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat who said the U.S. and the Caribbean have mutual security concerns and common economic interests.
鈥淐aricom nations are not an afterthought,鈥 he said. 鈥淎 lot has been accomplished by Caricom in the past 50 years, but we know there鈥檚 still a lot of work to do.鈥
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This story has been corrected to show Blinken pledged nearly $5.5 million.
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Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed from the United Nations.
