New military force for Haiti has the challenge of not foundering as happened with other missions

The decision of the Security Council of the United Nations to create a new international force to combat the gangs that terrorize Haiti, is supposed to prosper and leave behind a trail of similar missions that have failed to guarantee security in the poorest country on the continent. The UN Security Council approved on Tuesday a resolution promoted by the United States and Panama for the deployment in the Caribbean country of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) that will replace the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), deployed last year under the leadership of Kenya without achieving outstanding results.

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The Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), led by Kenya, will leave the country in the coming days without having achieved the expected results.

• Very different from what was expected, the armed gangs Haitian have taken new territories in cities, in addition to controlling 90% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.

Likewise, force has not managed to help the National Police recover the territories controlled by the gangs for many months, despite the operations carried out, none of which has resulted in the arrest or death of a gang leader. This is a hard blow for the MSS, which leaves lessons that the new force must learn to be able to do better in a country where the expectations of a return to calm barely find a response beyond speeches, notes and press conferences, where promises continue to multiply.

Will this be the opportunity?

The Gang Elimination Force is supposed to have 5,500 members military or police. The MSS should have been made up of about 2,500 troops, but only reached 1,000, because several countries did not send the members they had announced and it did not have the expected economic support. The mission that ends lacked logistical support, therefore, this new force announced runs the risk of facing the same difficulties, if there is no real will on the part of the international community. Although, as announced, this new force will have the authority to carry out active operations against gangs and make selective detentions and arrests. A task to which the outgoing mission did not really dedicate itself. With this new force, gangs should expect attacks and even violent reprisals. It must instill fear in the gangs that terrorize the civilian population. It must act concretely and must be able to win. Upon arrival, with a date yet to be defined, this force must send a resounding signal, such as the arrest of gang leaders or their death in military operations.

“He has known no peace”

Since at least 2018, this Caribbean country has not known peace. An insecurity reinforced by an unprecedented political instability. The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, declared this Wednesday that he is betting on a “rapid deployment” of the new international mission to combat the armed gangs in Haiti and called for other countries to join this effort. On his part, the current president of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Andrew Holness, called this Wednesday a “significant step” the decision of the Security Council of the United Nations, to establish a force to eliminate the armed gangs that sow terror in Haiti. On Tuesday, the president of Haiti’s Presidential Transition Council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, expressed his “gratitude to the members of the Council” who have supported this initiative and, in particular, to the United States and Panama.