The Colombian chief opened a brand new embassy in Haiti, whereas talks have been targeted on safety and the battle towards drug trafficking.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has travelled to Haiti for the second time this yr in a major present of assist, as spiralling gang violence continues to plague the Caribbean nation.
Petro’s go to, which started Friday, has targeted on talks on safety, commerce, training, agriculture and the battle towards drug trafficking, the Colombian authorities mentioned.
Petro introduced the opening of a Colombian embassy within the nation’s capital of Port-au-Prince.
He has additionally pledged to assist Haiti strengthen its safety, providing to coach Haitian officers. Haitian delegations have visited a state-owned arms manufacturing firm in Colombia to study its defence capabilities.
The Colombian authorities shared a short clip of Petro talking on the new embassy: “The time has come to actually unite.”
Por fin, tenemos embajada en Haití.
¿Qué fuerzas impedían en la cancillería que hubiera una embajada en el país desde donde salió nuestra independencia?
¿Sería porque nuestra libertad salió fue de los esclavos negros que se liberaron a sí mismos? pic.twitter.com/tpdpmBptCz
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 19, 2025
Translation: Lastly, we have now an embassy in Haiti. What forces within the Overseas Ministry have been stopping the institution of an embassy within the nation from which our independence originated? May it’s as a result of our freedom got here from the Black slaves who liberated themselves?
Petro landed in Port-au-Prince, the place 90 p.c of the capital is below gang management. He was accompanied by officers, together with Colombian Protection Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Throughout his go to, Petro met with Haiti’s Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime and its transitional presidential council, which is below strain to carry normal elections earlier than February 2026.
The officers arrived lower than per week after Haitian authorities killed 4 suspected drug traffickers and confiscated greater than 1,000kg (2,300lb) of cocaine off the nation’s north coast.
The seizure was unexpectedly massive for Haiti’s Nationwide Police, which stays understaffed and underfunded as it really works with Kenyan police main a United Nations-backed mission to assist quell gang violence.
Whereas most of the violence is centred in Port-au-Prince, gangs have razed and seized management of a rising variety of cities in Haiti’s central area.
A minimum of 4,864 individuals have been killed from October to the top of June throughout Haiti, with tons of of others kidnapped, raped and trafficked, in line with a latest UN report.
Gang violence has additionally displaced 1.3 million individuals in recent times.
Petro beforehand visited Haiti in late January. Earlier than his go to, Haitian officers invested some $3.8m to greater than double the runway on the airport within the metropolis of Jacmel, renovate the city and restore electrical energy to a inhabitants dwelling at midnight for at the very least three years.
The 2 international locations are moreover strengthening their ties as judges in Haiti proceed to interrogate 17 former Colombian troopers accused within the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moise.
