San Francisco Frontiers - US offers help for troubled Haiti but cautious on troops

Promising more steps to come, President Joe Biden's administration imposed US visa restrictions on Haitians blamed for the unrest and said it was working with Mexico on a draft UN Security Council resolution to create targeted sanctions and additional security measures.

At the request of the Haitian government, the US Coast Guard will also deploy one of its major cutters to patrol off the capital Port-au-Prince, the State Department said, describing the move as an "additional sign of resolve and support."

Brian Nichols, the top US diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, and Lieutenant General Andrew Croft, deputy commander of the US Southern Command, began two days in Port-au-Prince where they will meet Prime Minister Ariel Henry and other key stakeholders, the State Department added.

"We are sending a clear message that the United States will continue to support the Haitian people during this critical time," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

He said the United States was identifying Haitian officials and others involved in street gangs that have blocked humanitarian aid and would prevent them as well as their families from entering their giant neighbor to the north.

"Our intent in imposing these visa restrictions is to demonstrate that there are consequences for those instigating violence and unrest in the country," Blinken said.

- US 'reviewing' request -

The Haitian government on Friday formally requested international assistance as a cholera epidemic worsens and law and order break down, with armed gangs seizing vast pockets of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country including its largest fuel import terminal.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the immediate deployment of a special armed force, warning of a "dramatic deterioration in security."

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was "reviewing this request in coordination with international partners."

But another US official indicated that Biden -- a frequent skeptic of troop deployments and who last year pulled all US soldiers out of Afghanistan -- was in no mood to send American forces to Haiti, which the United States controlled for nearly two decades a century ago.

"The question of security presence is obviously an area where we are treading very carefully to make sure that we are doing the right things and not doing the things that in the past have not worked," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"I think it's premature to really start thinking about whether the United States is going to have a physical presence inside of Haiti."

Blinken said Washington's immediate focus was increasing assistance to the Haitian National Police, which was created in 1995 under the country's first elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to ensure civilian control of public security.

The United States has devoted $90 million since last year to strengthening the police as well as $171 million in humanitarian assistance, an official said.

State Department spokesman Price said that the United States would "accelerate" new humanitarian assistance, with officials noting that the aid would include cholera relief and fuel.

The United States has long been the key player in Haiti, which lies 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) off the Florida coast, but has been increasingly jaded about prospects for change after spearheading billions of dollars in aid following a devastating 2010 earthquake.

A previous deployment of UN peacekeepers in 2010 led to disillusion after their poor handling of wastewater was found to have provoked a cholera outbreak that claimed 10,000 lives before it was brought under control in 2019.

J.Scott--SFF