Marco Rubio Suggests American Countries Could 'Provide a Force' To Battle Haitian Gangs

Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the Organization of American States (OAS) could provide a "force" to battle against gangs wreaking havoc in Haiti and inching closer to controlling the entire capital.

Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio acknowledged that Port-au-Prince is mostly controlled by gangs and a multi-national mission led by Kenya and backed by the U.S. is struggling to defeat them.

The U.S. has hinted at reducing financing for operation in Haiti. In this context, Rubio mentioned the regional organization, saying that "if ever there was a regional crisis that you would think an organization like this could step forward and provide a force or a group of countries that, working together, could help solve it, it would be the OAS."

Rubio went on to say the Trump administration is "prepared to play a leading role" should the OAS decide to take action in the country, "but we do need buy-in from other partners in the region who are as affected, if not more so, by what's happening there."

The Miami Herald quoted sources saying the OAS option was not on the table, but Rubio discussed it publicly at the hearing, saying "We have a catastrophe in our own hemisphere right now in Haiti that we are seeking to come up with an alternative strategy, because the one in place right now isn't working and Haiti is headed in a very bad direction very quickly."

Democrats retorted that Rubio is spearheading cuts to 83% of the U.S.'s foreign aid budget, but the Secretary of State claimed he was "not saying (the OAS) is one of the ones we're going to walk away from."

The U.S. has to decide by June 1 whether it will provide the funds to continue the multi-national operation through March 2026.

"We are grateful to the Kenyans and to the mission and we remain committed to it because they've done it at a great sacrifice and risk," Rubio said during a passage of the hearing. However, he added, "that mission alone will not solve this problem."

"And so that is one example of something that I want to see us be able to lead on, and that is to get organizations like the OAS, which we contribute to quite a bit, step forward."

The outlet noted that member states have not shown interest in contributing to the cause with financial aid. No Latin America countries have provided funding to support the Kenya-led mission.

"We need to challenge some of our existing memberships to step up. Because you would think that one of the reasons why the OAS exists is to deal with a crisis like the one we have in Haiti," Rubio concluded.