U.S Secretary Blinken meets with new Haitian PM, Garry Conille

The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken as met with Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille and Foreign Minister Dominique Dupuy at the State Department to underline the need of US support for Haiti’s newly formed administration.

Mr Blnken said it was an important time for Haiti, an important time for the many countries including the United States that strongly support Haiti.

“We have the prime minister, foreign minister, a government in place, and we have the Transitional Presidential Council which has been stood up. And we have the deployment now of the Multinational Security Support mission to help the Haitian National Police regain full control of critical parts of Port-au-Prince and the country, all of this to ensure that Haiti can return to the path of having free and fair elections and making sure that, as we move forward, the support for Haiti from the international community can go forward in the most robust way possible,” Blinken added.

Met with Prime Minister @ConilleGarry and Foreign Minister @DominiqueAyiti of Haiti to reinforce our steadfast support for the Haitian people. pic.twitter.com/FnvpiRqvdW

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 2, 2024

Conille became Haiti’s new prime minister after being selected by a transitional committee last month.

He is in Washington to work on creating a new government to help the country navigate its current security difficulties.

Conille thanked President Joe Biden and expressed his gratitude for the “support and solidarity” of the American people.

The U.N. children’s agency reported that the new government in Haiti is ready to address the gang violence that has displaced over 300,000 children since March.

Gangs currently control 80% of the capital and major roads, resulting in over 2,500 casualties in the first quarter of the year.

Nearly 580,000 people, more than half of whom are children, have been left homeless in the past four months.

The surge in violence began in late February, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in April.

The new Haitian leader thanked President Joe Biden and the American people for their support, acknowledging the challenges that lie ahead and expressing confidence in his ability to overcome them.

Authorities recently recovered control of Gressier’s police station, which had been attacked by armed groups.

The incident caused human casualties and property damage, prompting the arrival of Kenyan police officers to help confront criminal organizations.

Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5 hurricane, made landfall in the Caribbean, killing people and sparking warnings in Jamaica and Haiti.