Biden says sending US troops to Haiti is 'not on agenda' but will protect embassy

In the aftermath of Haitian President Jovenel Moise’s assassination, the United States has assured that it would bolster security in the Caribbean country but would not deploy military forces for the same. President Joe Biden, who addressed media reporters on Thursday, said that the White House will increase security at its embassy in Port-au-Prince but sending troops was not on the “agenda”. Last week, Haitian authorities had urged the Pentagon to send troops amidst increasing unrest in the country. However, Biden who recently sped up military pullout from Afghanistan has signaled that he was not open to the request.  

“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.

'The door is not closed' 

Regardless, for Haiti’s leaders, the “door is not closed”. Speaking to the Associated Press, the country's elections minister Mathias Pierre said, “This is not a closed door. The evolution of the situation will determine the outcome,” Pierre said. While he admitted that intervention by US troops was needed to stabilize a visibly “fragile situation”, he asserted that the native administration has stepped up efforts to return the country to normalcy. 

“In the meantime, the government is doing everything we can to stabilize the country, return to a normal environment and organize elections while trying to come to a political agreement with most political parties,’ he said. 

Haiti, located southeast of the US, went into turmoil after the country’s President  Jovenel Moïse was killed and his wife Martine Moïse was wounded in a well-coordinated attack at their residence in the country's capital. In the gruesome attack, the Haitian leader was shot 12 times in the head and his eyes gouged out. Haitian Police fatally shot four suspects while twenty-six Colombians and two Haitian-Americans have been arrested so far over Moïse’s assassination. The police recovered Colombian passports, assault rifles, machetes, walkie-talkies, and materials including bolt cutters and hammers from the detainees.

Image: AP 

(With inputs from AP)