MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Haiti UN peacekeeping force led by Brazil will begin gradual pullout

Amorim said “we’re talking of a first pullout of 10% to 15% of the troops”

Brazil's Defense minister said on Thursday that Haiti's peacekeeping force of 12,000 soldiers and police, known as MINUSTAH, will begin a gradual withdrawal aimed at turning security over to the Haitians, but not imperiling the stability achieved.

Celso Amorim said that Brazil that heads Minustah, is negotiating with the United Nations to begin the pullback, but will keep troops in Haiti until local forces are ready to take over.

“We’re talking with the UN of a first pullout of 10% to 15% of the troops which is more or less equivalent to the reinforcements sent following the deadly earthquake of January 2010”, said Amorim.

The Brazilian minister spoke after lunching with Uruguayan President Jose Mujica in Montevideo, where ministers from the Latin American peacekeeping nations held a long-planned meeting on the future of the UN mission in Haiti.

The meeting has been overshadowed by allegations that Uruguayan peacekeepers sexually abused a young Haitian man inside their UN base, an event apparently captured on a Uruguayan's cell-phone video.

“It’s not common for heads of government to apologize or adopt such an attitude as President Mujica has done, which only reveals the dignity of the Uruguayan people. But an isolated incident can’t tarnish the excellent support and performance of the Uruguayan troops all these years in helping support stability and peace in Haiti”, underlined Amorim.

The minister described it as “a lamentable and isolated act”. Brazil leads the peacekeeping mission, so Amorim’s comments both on the scandal and the mission's future hold particular weight.

Mujica also, has said that he wants a gradual reduction in the UN peacekeeping force. “We aren't in Haiti to retire” he said.

Regarding the meting of Foreign Affairs and Defense ministers from Latin American countries involved in Minustah (UN mission for the stabilization of Haiti) Amorim said although the peacekeeping forces ‘can’t remain for ever’, they can’t pullout unless it is done in a responsible way.

“We must find the right balance, with the correct messages for the Haitian government and also for the international community, assessing all factors and in coordination with United Nations”, added Amorim.

Uruguay’s Foreign Affaire minister Luis Almagro said that in the case of Haiti, as in all those places where Uruguayan peacekeeping forces are stationed under UN command, “it is essential to combine the elements of security with those of budgets and in accordance with the legitimate authorities of those counties.

“Any pullout must be coordinated with the local government and with United Nations to ensure the sustainability of the Haitian security system in such a way that we comply with the original objective of the peace mission”, said Almagro.

He added that the Police in Haiti has become one of the institutions with better public opinion image and in several regions “security, law and order is good; we estimate that in three to four years Haiti can fully recover and manage its security”.

The alleged abuse by Uruguayan sailors at their base in Port-Salut happened in July but became public last week when two Haitians spotted the video on a sailor's phone and shared it with a local reporter.