Haiti sends police and military recruits abroad for training ahead of elections
Haiti is deploying 400 police officers to Brazil and 150 military recruits to Mexico as part of an international training initiative aimed at restoring security and paving the way for long-delayed national elections.
The move forms part of a national plan to rebuild the country’s law enforcement capacity in the face of the ongoing gang violence and institutional breakdowns.
In an interview, Fritz Alphonse Jean, president of Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council, emphasised the urgent need for both institutional readiness and public safety to hold credible elections.
"For elections to happen, two conditions must be met: institutional readiness, which we are currently working on, and a secure environment,” Jean said. “When we speak of a wartime budget, it is precisely to ensure that law enforcement can operate effectively and maintain public safety,” he told Viory.
Jean confirmed that international partners, including Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, are backing Haiti’s security plans. In addition to sending officers abroad, the government is bringing in international instructors to train larger groups of officers on the ground.
"The support we are receiving from countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Colombia is aimed at ensuring we have law enforcement forces capable of meeting the security challenges we are facing," he said.
The first group of military recruits is already in Mexico undergoing an eight-week specialised training course, with a second cohort expected to follow soon.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
