On January 22, Colombian President Gustavo Petro made a rare visit to Haiti's southeastern city of Jacmel as the nation grapples with ongoing conflict with armed gangs.
Colombia, like Haiti, is facing challenges from rebel factions that have escalated in recent times.
Petro arrived in Jacmel, which is approximately 90 km (55 miles) from Port-au-Prince, on a Colombian military plane, greeted by hundreds of residents who had gathered to witness his arrival several hours later than anticipated. His route avoided the troubled capital, where shootings involving diplomatic vehicles have been reported recently.
During his visit, Petro met with top Haitian government officials, including Leslie Voltaire, who currently heads the transitional presidential council. The discussions aimed to strengthen bilateral ties.
At an evening event, Voltaire expressed gratitude to Petro for his visit despite the situation in Colombia and highlighted the mutual benefits of their cooperation for Haiti's security and economy. Petro also emphasized the importance of unity in response to tightening immigration policies in the United States, stating, Let's leave them alone for a while and see how it goes. I believe we will help each other, and those who kick us out will end up alone.
Voltaire emphasized his goal of fostering closer relationships with South American countries to bolster security support, especially as a U.N.-backed security mission has struggled to address the escalating gang activity, resulting in territorial gains, port and airport closures, and severe food shortages affecting half of Haiti's 11 million population.
Significantly, the U.N. Security Council convened on the same day for a briefing on the conflict, with multiple nations advocating for stronger measures to curb the illicit flow of firearms to Haiti's criminal organizations.
Haitian Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste reiterated the urgent need for the underfunded U.N. mission to enhance its capabilities, urging the conversion into a fully-fledged peacekeeping operation to ensure stability. He stressed the importance of global support in overcoming the crisis, citing the deportation of over 200,000 Haitians back to the country in the previous year.