Hi there,

On Tuesday, November 5, Democracy Now! will air a 4-hour election night special broadcast from 8 pm to midnight ET. We will also air an expanded 2-hour election show for our daily broadcast from 8 to 10 am on Wednesday, November 6. Because Democracy Now! does not accept corporate advertising or sponsorship revenue, we rely on viewers like you to feature voices and analysis you won’t get anywhere else. Can you donate $15 to Democracy Now! today to support our election and post-election coverage? Right now, a generous donor will DOUBLE your gift, which means your $15 donation is worth $30. Please help us air in-depth, substantive coverage of the election and what it means for our collective future. Thank you so much! Every dollar makes a difference.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

U.N. Approves Armed Intervention Force for Haiti

HeadlineOct 03, 2023

The U.N. Security Council voted Monday to deploy multinational armed forces to Haiti as the island nation combats worsening gang violence. The intervention, which came at the repeated request of U.S.-backed Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, will be led by Kenya, marking the first deployment of international security forces to Haiti in nearly 20 years. The proposal received 13 votes in favor, with Russia and China abstaining. The resolution was drafted by the United States and Ecuador, allowing foreign troops to remain in Haiti for one year, with a review after nine months. The Biden administration pledged at least $100 million to fund the foreign operation. This is the United States Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Jeffrey DeLaurentis.

Jeffrey DeLaurentis: “This mission comes at the request of the Haitian government and Haitian civil society to address the insecurity and dire humanitarian crisis the country has faced for far too long. The deployment of this mission will help to support Haiti’s critical near-term needs and to foster the security conditions necessary for the country to advance long-term stability.”

Kenya had previously offered to contribute 1,000 police officers; the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda have also vowed to send forces. Many Haitians have opposed the move due to the disastrous history of U.N., U.S. and foreign interventions in Haiti. A U.N. mission that withdrew from Haiti in 2017 left behind an outbreak of cholera that killed some 10,000 people. U.N. officials were also accused of widespread sexual violence, including the abuse of children. Amnesty International has voiced concerns about the intervention and Kenyan-led armed forces, recently citing Kenya’s “continued unlawful use of force against protesters.”

Meanwhile, peace activists have denounced the move as a U.S.-led invasion. In 2021, the U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigned to protest the Biden administration’s policies in Haiti. In a resignation letter, the longtime diplomat Daniel Foote wrote, “What our Haitian friends really want, and need, is the opportunity to chart their own course, without international puppeteering and favored candidates but with genuine support for that course.”

No date has been confirmed for the deployment, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blnken recently said it could begin within months.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top