Mexico calls for sanctioning of players financing Haitian gangs

Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Barcena Ibarra, has called for the sanctioning of non-state actors financing gang violence and arms trafficking in crisis-torn Haiti, suggesting that enough attention is not being paid to the issue.

Ibarra said firearms trafficking is at the core of Haiti's problem, noting that when Mexico was a member of United Nations Security Council, it promoted the resolutions that it knew was the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.

She pointed to resolution 2653 which imposed sanctions on non-state actors linked to gang financing and arms trafficking.

“We urge the sanctions committee to act more effectively in implementing this resolution,” she said, noting that the situation in Haiti is not recent.

Ibarra, who was speaking at tonight's high-level meeting of CARICOM heads of government and other regional leaders in Kingston, Jamaica, said it is imperative to address the root cause of Haiti's problem – poverty, inequality, violence, and social disintegration.

She said without development there can be no security, noting that Mexico has over the years contributed to building Haiti through agriculture and training of security personnel.

“We have to address the disproportionate capabilities to organised crime that represent a risk not only for Haiti but to the entire continent. And with the US we have been working together on how to control these arms trafficking through our borders,” Ibarra said.

She said supporting Haiti means strengthening regional stability, noting that the consequences of the situation have important implications for irregular migration and human trafficking.

She said regional heads must ensure that the migration of Haitians is an option and not an obligation.

“We will continue to work hard on this,” the Mexican diplomat said.

- Kimone Francis

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