Top Republican blames Biden’s ‘neglect’ for leaving Haiti on the brink of civil war and demand assurances $50million in US aid won’t fall into the hands of ‘warlords’

Michael McCaul blamed the Biden administration for leaving Haiti on the brink of civil war, while the State Department chairman said he would not lift his hold on tens of millions in aid until he received further assurances that it would not go to ” warlords’ would go.

Republicans have been withholding money for months that would be used to deploy a force led by Kenyan police in Haiti, which is now under attack by gangs.

They have released $10 million from a $50 million fund, and McCaul claims none of that money has been used yet.

“We have already released $10 million from congressional notifications, and not a cent has been spent,” McCaul told reporters at the House GOP retreat at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.

“I don’t want to throw any more money or weapons at Haiti until I get assurances that it won’t go directly to the warlords.”

But the Biden administration is reportedly growing frustrated with the Republican Party-led grip and is pleading with lawmakers to recognize the urgency of the situation.

But McCaul said the Biden administration “neglected” Haiti for a year, and that there were virtually no international law enforcement agencies present prior to the most recent chaos.

“We have had a hearing on this issue. It was very clear that international law enforcement, INL, had very little presence in Haiti,” he said, adding that the current situation is due to “a year of neglect by this government.”

Earlier this week, the State Department sent Republicans a plan to help Haiti in an effort to get McCaul and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, to drop their hold.

But now that Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned and there is no longer a real government in Haiti, it is unclear whether Kenyan officers are even willing to intervene.

“Kenya cannot bring in its people until there is some form of governance in Haiti,” McCaul emphasized.

The US has pledged as much as $300 million for the multinational security mission in Haiti, which would see a thousand Kenyan officers deployed to the island.

McCaul said he is unhappy with the State Department’s plan and is still awaiting intelligence assessments on its lethality and the possibility of a stable government plan in Haiti.

“The government has still not been able to come forward to give us the necessary reporting reports to help us get to a point where we have confidence in the way the money will be spent and the weapons,” he explained .

“This is not the first time in history that the United States has put money into another country, but it has backfired.”

A plan to install new leaders in Haiti appeared to have collapsed on Thursday after major political parties rejected a plan to create a presidential council to manage the transition.

National Police patrol the area near the empty National Penitentiary after a small fire at the prison in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Haiti, Thursday, March 14, 2024

Police officers stand guard at the entrance to the National Penitentiary following a fire after a powerful gang leader in Haiti delivered a threatening message to political leaders who would take part in a still-unformed transition council for the country in Port-au. -Prince, Haiti, March 14, 2024

The gangs’ attacks began on February 29, when Henry was in Kenya to press for the United Nations-backed deployment of a Kenyan police force.

He has been banned from entering Haiti as gang attacks have closed the country’s airports.

Gunmen in the capital Port-au-Prince have set fire to police stations and stormed the country’s largest prisons, freeing around 4,000 prisoners.

The UN’s top human rights official warned days ago that the situation in Haiti is “extremely intolerable,” noting that more than 1,190 people have been killed by gangs since the start of 2024 alone.