Secretary Blinken and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good evening, and Prime Minister Henry, thank you very much for being able to see me.  We in the United States strongly support the Haitian people in this very challenging time.  We stand with them.  We’re working together to try to do a number of things.

First and foremost, we’re supporting your efforts to develop an inclusive, broad-based consensus on a path forward for governance and for development.  We also strongly support the Haitian National Police in its efforts to combat gang influence, to maintain basic security in Haiti, and to prevent community violence over the long term.  Going back to 2021, the State Department has allocated nearly $100 million for security in Haiti.  Going forward, we’re also focused on humanitarian assistance, providing significant sums to, again, try to help the Haitian people in a time of need.

The bottom line is that it’s imperative, I think, for the international community to come together in support of Haiti, in support of efforts to build genuinely inclusive, consensus-based governance; in support of efforts to build security forces that ensure that the state has a monopoly on the use of force and provide security for the Haitian people; and comes together to make sure that the Haitian people have a real chance, a real opportunity to move their country forward.  So I’m appreciative of this opportunity to consult with the prime minister on the path forward – the path forward on governance, the path forward on assistance and development, the path forward on security.

Mr. Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER HENRY:  (Via interpreter) Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for your words.  Your assistance in terms of security and humanitarian aid is very precious to Haiti.  We particularly appreciate your support to help us get on the path to democracy in Haiti.

Currently, the country is facing a lot of violence.  We’re also facing a humanitarian crisis into food insecurity.  We came here to CARICOM to seek support, and now we’re coming to you – we need support in order to keep going on this path.  We thank you for this meeting, and we hope it will be a positive one.

Merci.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thanks, everyone.