Biden: US will protect Haiti embassy, won’t send troops
Published:Friday | July 16, 2021 | 9:34 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States will bolster security at its embassy in Haiti following last week's assassination of that country's president, but sending American troops to stabilise the country was “not on the agenda.”
Haiti's interim government last week asked the US and the United Nations to deploy troops to protect key infrastructure following President Jovenel Moïse's assassination.
Biden signalled he was not open to the request, which comes as he is drawing down US forces in Afghanistan this summer.
“We're only sending American Marines to our embassy,” Biden said.
“The idea of sending American forces to Haiti is not on the agenda,” he added.
Mathias Pierre, Haiti's elections minister, told The Associated Press Thursday that he believes the request for US troops is relevant given what he called a “fragile situation” and the need to create a secure environment for elections scheduled to happen in 120 days.
He also said Biden's comment that sending US troops was “not on the agenda” still leaves the option open.
”This is not a closed door. The evolution of the situation will determine the outcome,” Pierre said.
“In the meantime, the government is doing everything we can to stabilise the country, return to a normal environment and organise elections while trying to come to a political agreement with most political parties.”
The request for US intervention recalled the tumult following Haiti's last presidential assassination, in 1915, when an angry mob dragged President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam out of the French Embassy and beat him to death.
In response, President Woodrow Wilson sent Marines into Haiti, justifying an American military occupation — which lasted nearly two decades — as a way to avert anarchy.
Biden addressed the situation in Haiti during a joint press conference at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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