US Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick said the US is working toward a solution in Haiti
MIAMI - The conflict in Haiti continues to escalate after another violent weekend.
US officials are expected to take part in an emergency meeting Monday in Jamaica with other Caribbean leaders to discuss the dire situation. Members of the CARICOM regional trade bloc have been trying for months to get political actors in Haiti to agree to form an umbrella transitional unity government.
During a news conference in Fort Lauderdale, US Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick two ministerial departments were overtaken by gangs this weekend. They've promised to take over Haiti's capitol building next.
Haiti's embattled prime minister Ariel Henry remains off the island and has not resigned even after calls from the US.
Cherfilus-McCormick, the Haiti Caucus Co-Chair, encouraged Haitian Americans in Miami and Haiti to hold on.
"We want to make sure that this time when we come in, that this is truly a Haitain led solution. That's why we are partnering with CARICOM. We understand that it's not just a security mission that is going to solve the day. It's really going to take a transitional government and that transitional government cannot move forward with Ariel Henry," she said.
On Sunday, the US military evacuated some nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Haiti and flew in forces to beef up security. The aircraft flew to the embassy compound, the U.S. Southern Command said, meaning that the effort involved helicopters.
The neighborhood around the embassy in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is largely controlled by gangs.
"This airlift of personnel into and out of the Embassy is consistent with our standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft," according to the Southcom statement.
In many cases, nonessential personnel can include the families of diplomats, but the embassy had already ordered departure for nonessential staff and all family members in July. The personnel ferried out of the embassy may have simply been rotating out, to be refreshed by new staff.
The statement Sunday said that the United States remains focused on aiding Haitian police and arranging some kind of U.N.-authorized security deployment. But those efforts have been unsuccessful so far.