Overview:
Haiti acquired reinforcements for the Multinational Safety Help Mission (MSS) as 150 Guatemalan troopers and eight Salvadoran personnel arrived on Jan. 3 and 4, 2025. These troops be part of safety forces from six nations to fight armed gangs and stabilize the nation, which stays gripped by violence and unrest.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — A complete of 150 Guatemalan and eight Salvadoran troopers arrived in Haiti on Friday, Jan. 3, and Saturday, Jan. 4, to strengthen the Multinational Safety Help Mission (MSS), which now contains 572 members. They arrived at Toussaint Louverture Worldwide Airport aboard a U.S. navy plane. Their arrival, initially scheduled for December 2024, was postponed on account of a volcanic eruption in Guatemala.
“We’re relying on their assist to hitch the Haitian legislation enforcement forces and different members of the multinational mission to revive peace within the nation,” stated Leslie Voltaire, President of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC), according to the Presidency of Haiti.
“They’re coming to strengthen the multinational forces within the combat in opposition to armed gangs within the nation.”
“The Salvadorans are being deployed to organize for the arrival of different contingents,” stated Lionel Lazarre, deputy spokesperson for the Haitian Nationwide Police (HNP), confirming that one other flight is anticipated in coming days.
The 158 safety personnel from Guatemala and El Salvador had been welcomed by Leslie Voltaire, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, Normil Rameau, director basic of the (HNP), Godfrey Otunge, head of the Multinational Safety Help Mission, and U.S. Ambassador Dennis Hankins.
On January 4, 2025, a further 75 Guatemalan troopers arrived in Port-au-Prince, finishing Guatemala’s dedication of 150 troops, together with 19 girls, to the MSS mission. This deployment brings the mission’s complete personnel to 572, nonetheless removed from the anticipated 2,500 members. In the meantime, the precise variety of Salvadoran troopers anticipated to hitch stays unclear. Otunge referred to as on international locations which have pledged assist however have but to deploy their forces, urging rapid motion to help Haiti in its combat in opposition to gang violence, which continues to destabilize the nation.
“We’re relying on their assist to hitch the Haitian legislation enforcement forces and different members of the multinational mission to revive peace within the nation.”
Leslie Voltaire, President of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC).
“Haiti urgently wants your assist,” Otunge stated. “2025 is not going to be straightforward for the gangs. As we enter the decisive operational section in assist of the PNH, the gangs have solely two decisions: give up, lay down their weapons, and face justice, or confront us on the sector.”
The newly arrived Guatemalan troopers will collaborate with Kenyan law enforcement officials from the Multinational Safety Help (MSS) mission and brokers of the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH) to fight gang violence. In a statement posted on X (previously Twitter), Guatemalan authorities detailed their troopers’ obligations: sustaining self-discipline and order inside navy items, safeguarding navy installations, and overseeing personnel actions on the mission’s headquarters.
Guatemalan navy authorities emphasised the broader significance of this deployment, stating, “On this means, it contributes to world peace and demonstrates the assist of the Guatemalan State to the Haitian folks and regional safety. We reiterate that worldwide cooperation is crucial to construct a extra simply and safe future.”
As of now, the MSS mission includes safety personnel from six international locations: 382 Kenyan law enforcement officials, 20 troopers and 4 law enforcement officials from Jamaica, 2 troopers from Belize, 6 troopers from the Royal Bahamas Defence Pressure, 150 Guatemalan troopers, and eight Salvadoran troopers.
The arrival of those new contingents happens amid ongoing gang actions within the capital, with armed teams searching for to increase their territorial management. Notably, initially of 2025, police forces thwarted members of the “Kraze Baryè” gang within the commune of Pétion-Ville, who had been trying to determine a presence within the Laboule space.