VIENNA, March 15. /TASS/. The current crisis in Haiti is the result of years of meddling by the US, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Russian reporters.
"We are now witnessing a most grave crisis in Haiti, the suffering of civilians. But it is justified to ask, what happened before? What is the reason for this? It lies largely in years of the absolutely cynical US intervention in, and US manipulation of the internal situation in Haiti," he said on the sidelines of the 67th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
According to the diplomat, it is too early to talk about sending a UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti.
"Those decisions that the UN has taken so far, unfortunately, have not yet been implemented, nor have the promises of a number of countries to send their forces to Haiti to normalize the situation," the deputy minister said.
News reports previously said some criminal groups in Haiti plan to oust the cabinet of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. On March 3, the government imposed a state of emergency and curfew throughout Ouest Department, and then the state of emergency was extended for a month in Port-au-Prince because of skirmishes between armed gangs and law enforcement forces. Henry announced on March 11 that the cabinet would step down when a presidential transition council was established.
The security and humanitarian situation deteriorated in Haiti after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 and was exacerbated when an earthquake killed more than 2,200 people later the same year. According to Telesur television, gangs now control more than 80% of the capital city and they are also consolidating in the other areas of the country. On March 1, an agreement was signed to send a Kenyan peacekeeping force of 1,000 police officers to Haiti to crack down on crime.