On Tuesday, May 20, 2025, during a Senate hearing, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the Organization of American States' (OAS) position regarding the serious security and humanitarian crisis in Haiti, while encouraging the OAS to take charge. "If there were a regional crisis where we thought an organization could step in and provide a force or a group of countries that, working together, could help resolve it, that organization would be the OAS," defending the Trump administration's foreign policy vision.

Rubio insisted that the Trump administration was "ready to play a leadership role in this regard," but warned that the involvement of other partners in the region "who are equally, if not more, affected by what's happening there" was necessary.

"This means that organizations like the OAS, to which we contribute significantly, are stepping in and providing a mission to member countries to address the problem in Haiti, which is about to take a dramatic turn if no solution is found quickly."

Rubio clarified that this was not a threat, nor was his country considering withdrawing from the OAS, but rather to "encourage" regional allies to participate more actively in finding a solution, recalling that "one of the reasons for the existence of the OAS is to respond to a crisis like the one we have in Haiti."

The Secretary of State thanked the Kenyan government, which, with the approval of the United Nations, is leading a Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS). "I am grateful to the Kenyans and to the mission. We can remain committed because they have made great sacrifices and taken great risks, but this mission alone will not solve this problem..."

Rubio announced that they were working with several U.S. federal agencies to determine "how to stem the flow of weapons leaving Miami in containers and arriving not only in Haiti, but also in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and elsewhere."

SL/ HaitiLibre