Canada's top general concerned military lacks capacity to lead Haiti mission

[March 09, 2023]  By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's top general said he was concerned that the country's armed forces, which are already stretched thin by support for Ukraine and NATO, do not have the capacity to lead a possible security mission to Haiti.

Haiti's government and top United Nations officials have called for an international force to support Haitian police in their struggle against gangs, which have become the de facto authorities in parts of the country.

In January, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was critical to identify a country to take the lead and said Canada had expressed an interest in that role, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not committed to it.

Over the past year Canada has spent more than C$1 billion ($724 million) in military assistance to Ukraine. Now Canada is preparing to nearly double its presence in Latvia, which shares a border with Russia and Belarus.

"My concern is just our capacity," Chief of the Defence Staff Wayne Eyre told Reuters in his office in Ottawa on Thursday. "There's only so much to go around... It would be challenging."

Officials in Ottawa say the U.S. has lobbied hard for Canada to take on the role, and U.S. President Joe Biden may carry that message again when he visits the capital later this month.

Haitian gangs have expanded their territory since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The resulting violence has left much of the country off-limits to the government and led to routine gun battles with police.

Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre looks at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a ceremony at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Blair Gable

Haiti has a long history of foreign military footprints on its soil, including a 1915 U.S. occupation that lasted 20 years, and more recent U.N. and U.S. troop deployments following political turmoil and natural disasters, some of which led to allegations of abuse.

Trudeau has repeatedly said a solution rests in the hands of Haitians, a position Eyre reiterated.

"The solution's got to come from the host nation itself," Eyre said. "They have to own the solution."

Canada has sent armored vehicles to Haitian police, and it has two small ships patrolling the coast. It has also sanctioned several former politicians and gang leaders.

Canada's military is now "actively planning" expanding to brigade strength in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's defense mission in Latvia, called Operation Reassurance, which it leads, Eyre said.

That will mean the participation of about 2,000 Canadian soldiers, along side those from other countries, Eyre said, compared to its current deployment of 700 to 1,000.

($1 = 1.3803 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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