U.S. Abandons Plan to Turn Haiti Support Mission into UN Peacekeeping Force

The United States has dropped its plan to transform the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti into a United Nations-led peacekeeping operation, Reuters reported. This decision came after intense pressure from Russia and China, both of which threatened to use their veto power in the UN Security Council, effectively blocking any attempt to expand the mission.

According to a source within the U.S. government contacted by Reuters, the U.S. reversal was also influenced by a direct appeal from Edgard Leblanc Fils, President of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) in Haiti. Leblanc reportedly urged Washington to reconsider its strategy, arguing that turning the mission into a peacekeeping operation could harm Haiti’s sovereignty and risk prolonging the country’s dependency on international forces, a situation Haiti has been trying to overcome for years.

The withdrawal of this proposal underscores the growing tensions between major powers within the Security Council, where Russia and China have frequently opposed interventions they see as intruding on the sovereignty of nations. Their veto threat forced the U.S. to scale back its original ambitions for Haiti, where the security situation remains dire, with rising gang influence and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

The Multinational Security Support Mission, led by Kenya, was initially proposed to help restore order in Haiti, which has been grappling with endemic violence. The U.S. had sought to bolster this effort by shifting control to the United Nations, with an expanded mandate and extended presence. This move would have provided the mission with greater reach and resources, but the veto wielded by Moscow and Beijing quickly halted this initiative.