The head of the Organization of American States called on the international community Wednesday to speed up the work on security and elections preparations in Haiti, describing them as the country’s two most immediate and interconnected priorities.
“Haiti is at a decisive point,” Albert Ramdin, the OAS secretary general, said at a press conference at the end of a visit to Port-au-Prince. “The future of Haiti belongs first and foremost to the Haitian people. But the international community also has responsibilities. Our task is clear: accelerate security support, intensify electoral preparations, fulfill the commitments already made, and ensure that our cooperation produces results that Haitians can see and experience in their daily lives.”
Ramdin arrived in Haiti on Monday, leading a high-level joint delegation with Carla Barnett, the secretary general of the 15-member Caribbean Community known as CARICOM. It was Ramdin’s second visit since December and Barnett’s first in her current role to the troubled country, where deepening gang violence, humanitarian needs and ongoing political crisis remain a concern for the regional bloc.
The purpose of the visit was to see firsthand the fight against violent armed gangs and the support for the United States-backed and United Nations-authorized Gang Suppression Force, and to gauge the progress toward the country’s Dec. 13 general elections.
“We came here to listen, assess where things stand, and identify where greater urgency and stronger coordination are required,” Ramdin said. “We are leaving with a better understanding of the priorities and needs of Haiti.”
A month after the Provisional Electoral Council launched voter registration for the first general elections in a decade, the delegation found progress to be painfully slow. As of Tuesday, only 282,000 Haitians had registered, a small fraction of the 6.4 million people who hold national identification cards, which are required to register.
“The electoral timetable requires urgent acceleration,” Ramdin said. “There is a need to intensify citizen registration and identification, as well as public information, outreach and voter mobilization campaigns.”
He also raised concerns about the credibility of the process, including how authorities will determine who is eligible to run for the presidency, Parliament and hundreds of local posts across the country. A number of Haitian have been hit with sanctions by the United States, Canada and the European Union, while only one politician and 10 gang members have been added to a United Nations’ global sanctions list, raising questions about who will be allowed to run.
“The integrity of the process requires confidence in the rules governing candidacies and their consistent application. Any concerns regarding candidate eligibility or potential links to illicit activities must be addressed transparently and in accordance with Haitian law and international electoral good practice,” Ramdin said.
During the visit, Ramdin and members of his delegation met with the prime minister and other officials, and visited the offices of the elections council. He pledged OAS support for the process, and signed an agreement with Japan’s ambassador to Haiti, Kazuhiko Nishiuchi, to award Haiti a $3 million grant to help register voters.
“As of January 2026, approximately 1.4 million people did not possess official identification documents, limiting their access to a wide range of basic social services, including education and social welfare,” the Japanese embassy said in a statement. “The project aims to improve the population’s access to public services and to help establish a fair and credible framework for the forthcoming elections.”
The OAS and the Brazilian organization Viva Rio also signed a cooperation agreement during the visit. Through the partnership, the organizations will provide social support, vocational training, work opportunities and community-based assistance.
Gang force needs more support
Ramdin met with members of Haiti’s security forces as well as the leadership of the international gang-fighting force, which he said needs support to reduce territorial control by armed gangs,; secure the main route to the international airport, clear access to the ports and open roads to the south of the country. Renewal of the gang-fighting force’s mandate is up at the next meeting of the U.N.
“But renewal of the mandate alone will not be enough,” Ramdin said. He called on OAS member states and international partners that have pledged personnel, equipment, or financial resources to accelerate the fulfillment of those commitments.
Gang violence in Haiti has displaced a record 1.5 million people and continues to fan a humanitarian crisis. In recent months, kidnappings have surged; the chief of staff to the minister of defense, James Boyard, and his six-year-old U.S. citizen daughter are among those targeted. More than two months after they were abducted they remain captive despite the payment of several ransoms.
Ramdin’s visit comes as Haitians in the United States lose Temporary Protected Status and find themselves at risk of deportation, and as the U.S. prepares to increase deportation flights to the country, including one scheduled for Friday with 135 returnees. It also comes as Ramdin and the OAS remain under pressure by Washington to do more to help Haiti.
Earlier this year, Republican U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami, who serves as vice president of the House Committee Appropriations and as chairman of the subcommittee on National Security, the Department of State and Related Programs, told the Miami Herald that he supports funding the OAS on the condition that Ramdin shows progress on Haiti.
“The OAS has got to step up in a big way, big way,” Diaz-Balart said. “If they can’t deliver for Haiti, then again, they’re not going to be in the column next year of fully funded. They’re going to be in the column of other institutions that we’ve eliminated or have seriously cut.”