A good Offices mission from the Organization of American States arrived in Haiti on Tuesday amid concerns over what it called the country’s grave political, security and human rights situation.
The OAS said the three-day trip is aimed at securing free and fair elections scheduled for September and November as Jovenel Moïse continues to rule by decree for more than a year.
President Jovenel Moïse said that he met with the OAS mission and that their discussions centered on Haiti’s security and health situation.
“My administration has reaffirmed its commitment to frank dialogue that should lead to the organization of democratic elections,” he wrote.
The mission said it also planned to meet with civil society and opposition leaders, but some of those plans were rebuffed.
The trip comes amid a sharp increase in coronavirus cases across Haiti and a resurgence in gang violence in the capital that recently displaced hundreds of families, some of whom are living in public parks and outdoor sports fields.