Unrest in Haiti likely to top agenda at Organisation of American States meeting
The Organisation of American States will convene for its 49th General Assembly in Medellin, Colombia today.
Ongoing protests in Haiti will be on the agenda. Demonstrations have intensified in the past month after a corruption report released by government auditors accused President Jovenel Moise of embezzling millions of dollars designated for social development programs. The country’s opposition and several influential religious groups have demanded that Mr Moise step down. The president has refused.
Some protestors have called for the creation of a unity government, whereby President Moise would retain his position, but general governance of the country would be controlled by an opposition prime minister. Precisely how power would be divided between the president and prime minister under such a system has not been detailed, so the solution remains a long shot.
A peaceful resolution remains unlikely in the short-term and risks exacerbating the region’s migration problem. Of the 10,000 migrants to illegally cross the Colombia-Panama border on their way to the US between January and May, more than a third were Haitians. This number could increase as political instability persists.
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