Haiti

UN Extends Mandate of Gang Suppression Force in Haiti

Is this the right way to stop gang violence in Haiti or a blank check that risks civilian lives?

4 days ago·Updated 3 days ago

UN Extends Mandate of Gang Suppression Force in Haiti

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Above: The U.N. Security Council holds a meeting on Haiti in New York on July 20. Image credit: Manuel Elias/U.N. Photo/Handout/XINHUA/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Finally there's a Haiti mission with actual teeth instead of another well-meaning failure that leaves gangs stronger and communities hostage. Roads reopening, extortion tolls shut down and no-go zones handed back to Haitian police prove an offensive mandate backed by real logistics works. Walking away now, with troops still arriving and with an election on the horizon, would hand the hemisphere's most violent gangs a victory.

OAS

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Establishment-critical narrative

Fighting violence with more violence has failed in Haiti for three decades, and a vague mandate with undefined rules of engagement is a blank check that risks civilian lives. The real crisis is a governance vacuum and a nonstop flow of guns and cash to the gangs, none of which soldiers can fix. Demanding that everyone else pay and staff a mission while ignoring funding promises marks a failure to share the security burden.

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