Haiti Requests US, UN Troops to Secure Infrastructure

WASHINGTON - Haiti has asked the United States and the United Nations to deploy troops to the country to protect key infrastructure in the aftermath of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Elections Minister Mathias Pierre told media outlets, including Reuters and Agence France-Presse, that the request for U.S. troop assistance was made Wednesday during a conversation between Haiti's interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He said Joseph made a request for U.N. troops with the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. "We were in a situation where we believed that infrastructure of the country – the port, airport and energy infrastructure – might be a target," Elections Minister Pierre told Reuters. Reuters quoted an anonymous senior U.S. administration official who said the United States has no plans to provide military assistance to Haiti "at this time."