Commentary by Arthur Piccolo
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Friday. September 6, 2024: “Better late than never” is a caustic comment on the fact that US Secretary of State Blinken spent several hours in Haiti yesterday at the airport to be safe.
Blinken has visited 87 different countries so far, many of them multiple times since becoming Secretary of State shortly after Biden was inaugurated in 2021. There is no nation physically closer to the United States than Haiti, except for Canada and Mexico, that you can walk in, but Haiti might as well be in another galaxy.
Anthony Blinken’s brief visit to Haiti marks his first and only visit to the country as Secretary of State. For a man who has traveled the globe, Haiti is less than an afterthought; it is invisible to this American administration. President Biden and Vice President Harris have emphasized staying away from Haiti physically and rhetorically. Now, as Haiti moves into an even deeper state of chaos, the detached approach of the Biden administration can no longer be justified as careful diplomacy—it is a flagrant failure of leadership.
Haiti has called for help as gangs continue to terrorize the nation, with nearly 80% of Port-au-Prince controlled by violent factions. Over 578,000 people have been displaced, over 1 million are without electricity, the so-called authority of the Haitian interim government is a fiction. However, the Biden administration has done little beyond throwing a modest amount of money at the problem, offering financial assistance that has been too little, too late. The Kenyan-led UN-backed mission has struggled with insufficient funding, a shortage of manpower and a lack of equipment. Nothing fundamental has changed for the Haitian people.
Blinken’s trip underscores what everyone knows: Haiti is no small priority for the US. The visit is more of an empty symbolic gesture than a strategic move. Despite the presence of some of the Kenyan police, the reality is that the grim gangs remain deeply entrenched and the country teeters on the brink of total collapse. Blinken’s meeting with Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille and the transitional presidential council is little more than political theater if not followed by immediate and bold action. Don’t bet on it or you will lose.
We will most likely have a Caribbean American president soon. Will anything change for Haiti under President Harris? Don’t bet on it or you’ll lose again.
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