Belize Considers Sending Troops to Haiti Amid UN Approval

The matter of Belize sending troops to Haiti will be tabled at the next Cabinet meeting since the United Nations Security Council has given the green light to have foreign troops assist the island nation.  Haiti has been experiencing insurgences and instability for some time now since the country’s President was assassinated.  In September, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eamon Courtenay, had indicated Belize’s inclusion in the foreign troops, being led by Kenya.  Courtenay says while the government has committed to assist, there are logistics to work out.

Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs: “Belize, like a number of CARICOM countries, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, have agreed to be a part of the force in principle. The first requirement was this authorization by the United Nations Security Council that is now in place. The second is to understand the command structure that is going to be led by Kenya, Government of Belize, with the advice of the Belize Defense Force and the Ministry of National Defense and Border Security would have to be satisfied that the command structure in place is satisfactory to them. Thirdly, all the logistics, costs and expenses related to Belize’s presence would have to be borne by some country or some organization, we would not be incurring any costs. Speaking to the Belize Defence Force they say that they could deploy up to 50, and that is what we have signalled, up to 50 people, if the circumstances are fine. Now, just to be clear. This matter is going to be considered by cabinet and the appropriate authorities for final determination. In fact, I had a discussion this morning with one foreign government that was asking us what is Belize’s list of requirements that are necessary to go in, what are the costs, etc. So I spoke with Minister Marin and that is being prepared. We had a preliminary list for discussion purposes. We are now preparing our final list. So when Kenya is ready we will have to be satisfied that the circumstances, arrangements in place, the cost, the framework in place before Belize finally takes a decision to move forward. But we will discuss this in detail in Cabinet next week.”

Monday’s approval from the United Nations comes after Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who took leadership of the country after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021, has been calling for military assistance to help restore security.