María Angela Holguín, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia
The Colombian diplomat María Angela Holguín met this week in Bogota with the Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the UN and with the head of the UN Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Edmond Mulet. They discussed the situation in Haiti in anticipation of Colombia assuming the presidency of the Security Council in April.
Colombia has envisaged, with the Security Council, the possibility of transforming the MINUSTAH mission into a development operation for Haiti.
"For the Colombian government, it is important to continue the stabilization process in Haiti, it's a question of interest for the Latin America and the Caribbean", said María Angela Holguín. However, the diplomat confirmed in a statement that the possibility of transformation of MINUSTAH will be discussed and supported by Colombia at the United Nations in April. This debate will be animated by the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, said the statement.
(Note: The above item appears on the website of Haiti Libre and is translated from the French version. There is no original source cited; it is undoubtedly a Spanish-language source. María Angela Holguín is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. The presidency of the Security Council rotates monthly among the fifteen members. Colombia's turn is in April 2011. --Website editors.)
Haitian intellectuals divided on a potential redefinition of the MINUSTAH mission
Port-au-Prince February 22, 2011 - (AHP)
Fritz Dorvilier, a Haitian a doctorate in development studies, ruled out today a proposal by Colombia to promote the transformation of the United Nations Interim Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH) into a development mission.
He said the intervention framework of the UN mission is clearly defined by resolutions 1742 and 1743 of the Security Council of the United Nations and there is no way to change it. He said, "It is the Haitian government's responsibility to bring stability to the country, to achieve economic and social development and to maintain public order," adding that MINUSTAH is in Haiti to assist the government, not to replace it.
The professor said that the work of the country's development rests with the government and other non-governmental bodies involved in this field.
"Development should be elaborated by a legitimate government," he says, emphasizing the need for MINUSTAH to continue to play its stabilizing role while the government deals carefully with development.
Economist Camille Charlmers said the proposal by Colombia comes late in the game and stems from the failure of the UN force in Haiti. The executive director of the Haitian Advocacy Platform for Alternative Development notes a total discrepancy between the military structure of MINUSTAH and the country's real needs.
Denouncing the enormous waste of resources by the force in Haiti, the professor believes that the objectives of resolution 1742 have not been met and, in addition, MINUSTAH has caused much harm to the country.
The Foreign Minister of Colombia, Maria Angela Holguin, will likely present the proposal in April for discussion at the Security Council of UN. It will also be raised by Colombia in other debates on Haiti.
After his inauguration in 2006, President Rene Preval himself requested that MINUSTAH's armoured cars be replaced by bulldozers.
MINUSTAH is disfavored by much of the Haitian population, particularly after the outbreak of cholera that was deemed to be caused by MINUSTAH's Nepal contingent. An investigation of the outbreak is ongoing.