Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince still operating as officials gather in Jamaica for Haiti talks

Canada's embassy in Portau-Prince, Haiti was still operating as Caribbean leaders met Monday with officials from the United States, Canada and other countries in Kingston, Ja‐ maica to discuss plans to restore order to the coun‐ try.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the meet‐ ing virtually and also held a meeting with his Incident Re‐ sponse Group to discuss the situation in Haiti.

Canada's UN Ambassador Bob Rae attended the meet‐ ings in person. He told CBC News from Kingston that while "Canada has not closed its embassy" in Haiti, the se‐ curity situation on the ground will decide how long it remains open.

"We're still operating ... and we'll continue to operate a long as its possible," Rae said.

In a statement posted to its website, Global Affairs Canada said the embassy in

Port-au-Prince "is closed tem‐ porarily to the public" but "consular services will be provided remotely."

Gangs have attacked and seized most of the Haitian capital in recent weeks. They've laid siege to the air‐ port, government buildings and prisons, enabling thou‐ sands of inmates to escape.

Rae said both the airport and the port in Port-auPrince remain closed, making it difficult to get supplies and food into the country.

"The power of the gangs has extended and expanded because as much as the Hait‐ ian national police has tried to do so, on its own it can't respond in a necessary way to establish order," he said.

Watch: Stabilization must be top priority for Haiti, former U.S. ambas‐ sador says:

The increasingly powerful gangs have been pushing Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign to prevent what they claim is the begin‐ ning of a civil war.

Henry, who is also acting president, was sworn in as prime minister with the back‐ ing of the international com‐ munity, including Canada, af‐ ter the July 2021 assassina‐ tion of President Jovenel

Moïse.

With the airport closed, Henry has been unable to re‐ turn to his country since Tuesday, leaving the gangs and other armed groups to fill the power gap. The Do‐ minican Republic, which shares the island of Hispan‐ iola with Haiti, has closed its land border.

Restoring order

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken also attended the meetings in person, which were convened by the Con‐ ference of the Heads of the Caribbean Community (CARI‐ COM).

Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said CARICOM leaders have heard from Haitian stakeholders who have called for the establish‐ ment of a presidential coun‐ cil to help expedite a political transition in Haiti.

"Everybody agreed to the urgent need for the estab‐ lishment of a presidential council. Everybody agreed that that presidential council would be required to help identify a prime minister. Everybody agreed that that prime minister, working with the presidential council, would be effectively required to establish a government," she said during opening re‐ marks at the CARICOM meet‐ ing.

Blinken announced that the U.S. would commit an ad‐ ditional $100 million US to‐ ward a multinational security mission and $33 million US for humanitarian aid.

"We all know that urgent action is needed on both the political and security tracks to help move things in a bet‐ ter direction, to help do right by the people of Haiti," Blinken said during a media availability following the meetings.

Rae said a number of countries from the region and from Africa are ready to put boots on the ground in Haiti, but Canada will be pro‐ viding only financial and lo‐ gistical support.

"Canada will be a part of any combined effort. It's just we're not sending troops," Rae said. "The reason for that is because (Trudeau) wants to insist that it's the Haitians themselves who have to lead the way."

Rae said talks continue aimed at getting more coun‐ tries to commit to the multi‐ national security force. Rae said the gangs in effective control of Haiti are very well armed.

"Their guns come from the United States and we've got to stop the flow of weapons to the country and we've got to increase the ability of the national police to be able to control things," he added.

Pamela White, a former U.S. ambassador to Haiti, told CBC News that she is not convinced a multinational force that does not include troops from Canada or the United States will be able to stabilize the country.

"Hatians need food, wa‐ ter, shelter, security. And that security is going to have to come first because you can't get water and food and med‐ icine into Haiti … unless you have stabilization," White said.

Reaching a democratic consensus

Over the weekend, Trudeau spoke with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and promised to continue Canada's support for the Haitian National Police and member states of CARICOM.

A read-out of that call said both "leaders underlined the importance of the United Na‐ tions-authorized multination‐ al security support mission to restore stability in Haiti."

Trudeau also spoke to Mottley over the weekend. According to a statement is‐ sued by the Prime Minister's Office after the call, the two agreed to help find a political consensus in Haiti that would lead toward fair elections and the restoration of order.

Rae said that it will be all but impossible to hold any form of democratic elections until order is restored on the ground in Haiti.

"Right now, we can't have an election because there is too much insecurity and too much violence," he said.