Ottawa (AFP) - The United States and Canada, which on Thursday announced the launch of an assessment mission in Haiti, said the Caribbean nation needs international support but did not specifically address who might lead an intervention force.
Discussions are ongoing about this force, which would essentially be an assistance mission in support of Haitian police, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a joint press conference with his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly in Ottawa.
"We agree that between deepening food and fuel shortages, the growing cholera outbreak, and gangs, blockading ports and terrorizing civilians, the situation is simply unsustainable," Blinken said.
The two officials said they discussed the situation in Haiti extensively during their meeting.
Asked whether Canada would be ready to take the lead of such a security force, the Canadian minister did not answer directly but assured that Canada's assessment mission was precisely intended to determine the security conditions on the ground.
The Canadian delegation is currently consulting with stakeholders "on options to support Haitian people in resolving the humanitarian and security crises" facing the impoverished country and "restore access to essential goods and services," said the government.
Joly notably insisted that any solutions would have to be "by and for Haitians."
"We're looking at different options, but we want to make sure that we have the right assessment," she said.
Blinken arrived in Ottawa in the morning for his first official visit to Canada since taking office, and met later in the day with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in particular to discuss Haiti.
"We're going to be talking about Haiti where the situation is heartbreaking, where there's much we can do," Trudeau said at the top of the meeting.
"We're busy engaging very much with local and regional partners to make sure that it is done right," he said.
On Friday, Blinken was scheduled to travel to Montreal -- Joly's hometown -- where he is to tour a lithium battery recycling facility.
His visit to Canada comes in the wake of appeals by Haiti's government and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for international intervention as armed gangs take over vast stretches of the country and a cholera outbreak worsens.
The UN Security Council last week unanimously approved a resolution that targeted gang leaders but it did not address a multinational force.
The proposal of sending in an armed force does not have unanimous support, neither within the Haitian population nor within the Security Council, and no country has yet offered to lead it.
The United States has indicated that it is ready to support such a force but not to lead it, as has France.
For Haitians, the idea of sending in a peacekeeping force evokes painful memories.The country has already been host to American, French or Canadian troops, and UN missions -- one of which brought cholera, causing an epidemic that killed more than 10,000 people.
'Break the nexus'
A top US official on Wednesday voiced hope for progress on an international intervention.
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said he was "optimistic" and "confident" about the possibility of putting this force in place possibly by early November.
"I've talked to dozens of partner nations around the world about the situation in Haiti and there is strong support for a multinational force," he said.
But Blinken and Joly were more cautious on Thursday, declining to speculate who could lead it.
"What we've been talking about is, what might that look like?What would it need?And we've both been talking to a variety of countries to gauge their interest in and willingness to participate in that," Blinken said.
In the meantime, in addition to humanitarian aid, the United States and Canada delivered law enforcement equipment in mid-October for the Haitian national police, under-equipped and overwhelmed by criminal gangs that act with impunity.
Both Blinken and Joly both insisted on Thursday on the need to "break the nexus" between the gangs and certain political elites who finance and direct them.
