UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Haiti on Saturday and again called on foreign governments with strong security forces to help the struggling country fight a surge in gang violence.
The appeal was made after Guterres met with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, civil society leaders, UN staff, and the heads of various political parties during his one-day trip.
Henry, who has been running the country since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, has been under pressure to hold elections. But experts have noted it is impossible to do so given the current level of violence in the country, with gangs controlling an estimated 80 percent of the capital.
There are no democratically elected institutions left in Haiti, with the country failing to hold legislative elections since October 2019.
He also said Haiti urgently needs more humanitarian aid as poverty deepens and starvation cases spike. Gangs are preventing the movement of goods and people and controlling access to water, food, and health care as civilians attempt to fight back via a violent uprising.
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