LOS ANGELES — As Haiti grapples with an unprecedented wave of kidnappings and killings by armed gangs, a top State Department diplomat for Latin America and the Caribbean said Friday the U.S. is actively engaged in discussions about Haiti’s mounting security challenges and what the presence of a United Nations mission in the country should look like.
“We’re looking at what the structure of that mission would be going forward and making sure that it is properly equipped to deal with the security issues in Haiti,” Assistant Secretary of State Brian A. Nichols told the Miami Herald in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Ninth Summit of the Americas.
Nichols’ comments are the first public acknowledgment that the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known by its French acronym, BINUH, has not worked. The small mission was put in place in October 2019 after the closure of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation after 15 years.
