Description: Panama and the US have filed a draft resolution to the UN for the establishment of a local UN Support Office which would oversee the incorporation of additional UN – backed security forces to the Kenyan policing mission in Haiti. Similar initiatives have been proposed in the past to support the Kenyan underfunded policing mission, which is considerably struggling in combating the heavily armed gangs which have been substantially extending influence and territorial control over the past year. The initiatives were proposed by either the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres or the US and have been continuously blocked by Russia and China. The UN also reported that children were making up more than 50% of the gangs’ military force, as they were forced towards combat, logistical support and drug trafficking. The UN also called for extending the arms embargoes for Haiti which is suspected of receiving most of the weaponry through the US across lightly monitored seaborne crossings in Florida.
Impact: The joint US – Panama security initiative would most probably be once again blocked by Russia and China which are welcoming the opportunity to inflame a foreign crisis close to the US borders. Haiti’s interim government has resorted towards soliciting assistance from the private military company Vectus Global, run by Erik Prince who is closely connected to US President Trump, in light of stalled international support for the Kenyan policing mission in the country. Haiti’s police recently captured a critical telecom strategic point, restoring communication and internet services in the country in a rare occasion of combat success against the armed gangs. Considering the likely blockade by Russia and China in the UN Security Council for the initiative, the crisis would only further deteriorate while private military companies such as Vectus Global would most likely fill the security vacuum in the country ahead of the projected elections in Feb which would most likely be exploited by the gangs to legitimize their standing.