Four Salvadoran soldiers disappeared last month after a firefight in an area of the Haitian capital controlled by powerful gangs, gone without a trace but for the charred hull of their armoured vehicle.
asserted
soldiers → disappear → vehicle
A planned recovery mission has turned to one of retribution.
asserted
mission → plan → retribution
A massive troop surge has been followed by missile strikes on the headquarters of a prominent gang leader, with the devastation captured in videos and posted to social media channels of Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s charismatic president.
asserted
devastation → follow → Bukele
We are people with the same courage as you,” Bukele wrote in a message addressed to the Haitian people.
asserted
Bukele → write → people
“We will help you take back your country … and finally, Haiti will be free.
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Haiti → help → country
It has all the daring and drama of a blockbuster action film.
asserted
It → have → film
But it’s the backdrop to what’s been cast as a last-ditch effort to stabilize Haiti — one being bankrolled in large part by Canada.
asserted
what → ’ → Canada
Canada ‘a catalyst’
This week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio singled out Canada for praise at a G7 foreign minister’s meeting in Paris, where Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand led a session focused on Haiti.
asserted
Anand → single → Haiti
“The Canadians deserve a lot of credit,” he said.
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he → deserve → credit
“They’ve really stepped up.
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They → step → ?
They’ve been a big catalyst in the work that’s been done.”
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that → do → work
Canada has been the largest financial backer of the United Nations-backed mission to deploy a gang suppression force, tasked with beating back the gangs in Haiti and creating space for its government to assert control over the country, according to UN figures.
uncertain
government → back → figures
Ottawa has contributed about $85 million of the $225 million pledged so far for the force and the multinational security support mission that preceded it — nearly double that of the second-largest contributor, Germany.
asserted
that → contribute → contributor
Anand said in Paris that the American praise comes from her fundraising work as well as her efforts getting countries to commit troops for the gang suppression force, which is authorized to deploy up to 5,500 troops in Haiti.
asserted
which → say → Haiti
This was high on her agenda during an August trip to Ivory Coast and Benin, where she said “part of my work … was to speak with some of those countries to ensure that there will be that support for the gang suppression force going forward.”
asserted
part → say → force
National elections are planned in Haiti for next summer, but risk being pushed back or cancelled if the dire security situation does not improve.
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situation → plan → summer
The UN mission in Haiti said this week that at least 1,167 people had died in the country between July 1 and Sept. 30, with gang members responsible for an estimated 45 per cent of the killings.
asserted
members → say → killings
The most shocking acts of violence occurred in Kenscoff, on the southern outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and left more than 100 dead, including 19 children.
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acts → occur → children
An August report by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, an organization that monitors global conflicts, said the attacks in July and August were part of ongoing attempt by the sanctioned gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm (“Live Together”) to exert control and expand its reach in the neighbourhood.
asserted
attacks → monitor → neighbourhood
The August attack, in which 47 were killed and nine were taken hostage, targeted displaced people sheltering in a church, and prompted appeals for peace from Pope Leo XIV.
Another half or more of the reported killings have been attributed to attacks by security forces targeting gangs.
asserted
half → kill → gangs
A number of those victims have been civilians and children caught in the crossfire.
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number → catch → crossfire
The UN has also documented 44 cases in which Haitian National Police members have attempted or carried out “extrajudicial executions.”
asserted
members → document → executions
It’s against this desolate backdrop that Bukele’s brazen attack on the headquarters of Haiti’s largest active gang, 400 Mawozo, was so enthusiastically welcomed.
asserted
attack → ’ → gang
“In the streets of Port-au-Prince and in provincial towns, his name is being sung,” Frantz Duval, editor-in-chief of Le Nouvelliste, a Haitian daily newspaper, wrote this week.
asserted
Duval → sing → Nouvelliste
“Crowds dance while recalling his actions.”
asserted
Crowds → dance → actions
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé wrote on X. “The gangs will get no sleep!”
asserted
gangs → write → sleep
The reaction is understandable, said Haitian-Canadian journalist Harold Isaac.
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Isaac → say → ?
“The problem is we’ve been in such a dire situation that people will essentially take hope from wherever it comes,” said Isaac, who is based in Port-au-Prince.
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who → take → Prince
But he referred to Bukele and the 2,000 additional Salvadoran troops who surged into Haiti as “a wild card” because they are acting not as part of the UN-mandated anti-gang force but at the invitation of the Haitian government.
asserted
they → refer → government
The length of their stay and their rules of engagement aren’t known.
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length → know → engagement
Human rights group Amnesty International called this week on Haiti and El Salvador to ensure that security operations respect human rights law and protect the public from forced displacement while ensuring access to food and medical care.
asserted
operations → call → food
Bukele’s actions in Haiti could also highlight the limitations of the UN’s gang suppression force of about 2,400 troops from Chad, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Guatemala and Mongolia.
uncertain
actions → highlight → Chad
Many Haitians are doubtful about its chances of improving security, seeing the force as just another international plan that follows on the failures of the previous Kenyan-led multinational security support mission.
“I think the international community is hopeful” about the gang suppression force,” said Wolf Pamphile, chief executive officer of Haiti Policy House, a Washington-based think tank.
asserted
Pamphile → improve → House
“Haitians on the ground, they haven’t seen the results that would show why they should be confident or hopeful.”
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they → see → results
Rubio told reporters this week that failure was not an option.
asserted
failure → tell → reporters
“If the gang suppression force effort doesn’t work, then we’re out of ideas, so we have to make it work,” he said in Paris.
asserted
he → work → Paris
But human rights lawyer Brian Concannon, executive director of the U.S.-based Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, said it’s not enough to simply eliminate gang members and seize control of their territory with military force.
asserted
it → say → force
“Part of the problem with killing enough people is that it’s been tried before,” he said, referring to UN-backed missions stretching back more than two decades.
asserted
he → kill → decades
“That did in fact reduce the violence, but it just all springboarded back because nobody dealt with the underlying conditions that are probably going to irrevocably lead to gang violence when you have a whole bunch of young men with nothing else to do, no prospects in life and a very weak government.
asserted
you → reduce → life
‘Haitians have to vote’
asserted
Haitians → have → ?
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
