Haitian intellectuals interviewed by Brasil de Fato harshly criticized the decision by the Organization of American States (OAS) to support the international security mission led by Kenya in Haiti. The OAS General Assembly meeting held Friday, June 27, in Antigua and Barbuda, took place after pressure from the United States. Contradicting themselves, the Trump administration criticized the organization for its lack of action to combat the crisis in the country but, to justify a new wave of deportations of Haitians, also claimed that the situation in the Caribbean country “had improved”.
“As always, these organizations are implementing US policy against Our America,” said Camille Chalmers, an economist and professor. “It is very clear that the key to changing the balance of power in the Haitian crisis is a change in US policy towards Haiti, which currently consists of supplying weapons and ammunition to armed gangs from Miami. This is also supported by the Dominican Republic, which is working to destabilize us. The OAS will not improve anything at all.”
A similar position is presented by Josué Mérlien, a writer and trade unionist. “The OAS is a political instrument of the United States to obtain formal support for the policies they want to implement. The resolution will not help us in any way, the international mission is useless, they say they are in Port-au-Prince, but no one sees them,” he says. “What we need is international solidarity to overcome the chaos that is the work of the United States and that is in their interests.”
US pressure
The OAS resolution calls on member countries to support the Kenyan-led mission, which has the backing of the United Nations and the United States. The alleged goal is to help curb violence by gangs that control the capital, Port-au-Prince. Of the 3,000 security forces promised, fewer than 1,000 have arrived in the country.
Another recent development was the Kenyan government’s threat to cut funding for these agents. In addition to doing all it can to pay the bill, the OAS resolution vaguely mentions “possible humanitarian assistance” to create conditions for “free and fair elections”. Only Jamaica and the Bahamas have sent forces to join the Kenyans.
The meeting was held under pressure from the US government of Donald Trump, which on Thursday, June 26, harshly criticized the organization. “Haiti is sinking into chaos. If the OAS is not willing or able to play a constructive role in Haiti, we seriously question why it exists,” said US envoy Christopher Landau.
The next day, however, the Trump regime announced the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for about half a million Haitians in the US. TPS protects people from deportation when their home countries are deemed unsafe.
The US announced that Haitians would no longer be eligible for TPS because the country’s situation had already “improved sufficiently.”
On July 1, a federal judge blocked Trump’s bid to terminate TPS for Haitians in the US, stating that the proposal didn’t follow congressional procedures and was “unlawful”. However, an appeal from the US Department of Homeland Security is expected.
Haitian situation
The UN estimates that 1.3 million people – half the capital’s population – have been forced from their homes by violence. This year alone, more than 2,300 people have been killed, including about 50 children. The UN accuses the police of contributing to these numbers.
Since mid-2024, Haiti’s official government has been the Presidential Transitional Council (PTC), a group established by the OAS that was supposed to lead a new presidential election. But the PTC has proven incapable of improving the country’s economic or social situation, which is now plagued by widespread malnutrition, a lack of hospitals and clean water, and a cholera outbreak.
This article was first published in Brasil de Fato in Portuguese.
