By Planet Press, Dec. 13, 2025
The Organization of American States (OAS) and Canada recently donated a batch of motorcycles to the Haitian National Police (PNH). Presented as a significant contribution, some question the relevance to the country's security situation. Armed groups control entire territories, possess assault rifles, abundant ammunition, and employ quasi-military tactics. Consequently, the donation of motorcycles to the PNH appears more like a symbolic gesture.
Official statements emphasize improvements in the mobility and response times of law enforcement. The fight against organized crime in Haiti, however, is not simply a matter of mobility. It is primarily an asymmetric war pitting an under-equipped police force against heavily armed, better-funded, and often better-organized armed groups. In such circumstances, the crucial question is not how to arrive faster, but with what resources to confront the enemy.
The PNH doesn't lack motorcycles, but rather a critical shortage of strategic equipment: armored vehicles, high-quality bulletproof vests, appropriate weapons, intelligence capabilities, surveillance drones, secure communication systems, and air support. Sending officers on motorcycles to confront armed groups equipped with automatic rifles and entrenched in densely populated urban areas exposes the police more than it enhances their operational effectiveness.
Presenting this donation as a “concrete step in international support” can hardly mask the gap between the scale of the security crisis and the modest response. International cooperation, so often invoked in these speeches, cannot be limited to visible actions with little impact on the ground. It should be part of a coherent strategy aimed at rebalancing the power dynamic between the Haitian state and criminal groups.
The gratitude expressed by the police authorities, while understandable given their dependence on foreign aid, should not obscure a fundamental truth: Viv Ansanm cannot be fought with motorcycles. This type of assistance, if not accompanied by genuine and appropriate security support, risks reinforcing the perception that the international community prefers superficial gestures to courageous and decisive commitments.
Ultimately, the PNH doesn't need additional transportation to combat banditry. It needs combat equipment, protection, and intelligence capabilities commensurate with the threat. Everything else is more about public relations than a genuine commitment to restoring security and state authority in Haiti.
Posted Dec. 25, 2025