A contingent of 150 Guatemalan soldiers has arrived in Haiti to assist in restoring order amid escalating violence caused by armed gangs.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the first group of 75 soldiers arrived on Friday, followed by another 75 on Saturday. All the soldiers are from Guatemala’s military police, as confirmed by the country’s government.
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Haiti has been under a state of emergency for months as it struggles to combat violent gangs that have seized control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The Guatemalan forces will support a United Nations-backed security mission led by Kenya, which has thus far been unable to prevent the violence from intensifying.
Kenya initially sent nearly 400 police officers in mid-2023 as part of a UN-approved international mission aimed at restoring peace.
The broader force is expected to consist of 2,500 officers from various countries. Additional forces from Jamaica, Belize, and El Salvador are also contributing, with the US being the mission’s largest financial supporter.
In March 2024, armed gangs launched a daring attack on Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing around 3,700 inmates.
The state of emergency was first declared in the Ouest Department, which includes Port-au-Prince, on March 3 after violence surged in the capital.
Haiti has faced chronic instability, frequent dictatorships, and devastating natural disasters in recent decades, leaving it the poorest nation in the Americas.
The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 by unknown gunmen further plunged the country into turmoil, leading to economic collapse, weak political control, and a surge in gang violence.
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