Haiti's Foreign Minister says the country is on the brink of an abyss

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

Haiti is on the brink of an abyss. That's according to the country's foreign minister, Dominique Dupuy. Large parts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince are run by gangs. Seven hundred thousand people who fled the violence are unable to return to their homes, and the World Food Program says roughly half the country's population, around 4 1/2 million people, struggle to find enough food each day. Earlier this year, an international force led by Kenya deployed 400 troops to Haiti to help the government regain control of the country. But Minister Dupuy says it's not enough.

DOMINIQUE DUPUY: What we're seeing is that the level of creativity, agility and aggression coming from the gangs was largely underestimated.

SCHMITZ: When we spoke, foreign Minister Dupuy spelled out just how dire the situation with the gangs has become.

DUPUY: As of a few weeks ago, they've almost completely taken over the port area, and this is having a very dangerous impact on the food security with already half the population food insecure. We have a 40% decrease in the import coming in through the port of - the bay area of Port-au-Prince because it's being effectively shot. The ships coming in are being shot at by snipers from gangs. And we are therefore having the security - having a really direct impact on the food insecurity for half the population that is facing this very difficult situation.

SCHMITZ: So Minister Dupuy, I'm hearing from what you're saying here that these 400 Kenyan troops are not enough, that you need more help.

DUPUY: We need a lot more help, Rob. The reality is 400 is what they consider a pre-deployment phase. We are looking at a thousand troops for end of November, and there's no way for a population of 4 million people in the metropolitan area that is completely hostage to heavily armed men, very determined - we saw on the night of October 3 a completely cruel massacre of about 117 innocent people in the middle of the night, including children, women in their homes, and we're still counting bodies as I speak to you. We saw that they are determined to continue the rampage, and we are worried that the level of engagement we have now will not suffice.

SCHMITZ: You're there in Washington seeking help. You know, Haiti, of course, has become an unwelcome talking point in the U.S. presidential election when Donald Trump made false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio. I'm wondering, given the situation at home, how are you processing how Haiti and how Haitians are being discussed in the United States presidential election?

DUPUY: This is a very good question, Rob. And as we face very difficult and challenging times, the position that we're holding is we will not stand by and allow Haitians to be dehumanized, allow our dignity to be stripped away from us just because we have been welcomed through a humanitarian program to integrate communities. It is disheartening to see the low level of engagement that we're getting at a time where we feel we have to compete with about 60-plus conflict zones around the world, and the international community's attention is completely distracted by main conflicts that we know.

And what we're trying to say - it seems that we are too small a problem but too complex a problem for anyone to be interested in. But meanwhile, behind all of this, these are real lives. These are children that want to go back to school. These are mothers that want to be reunited with their children when they're ripped apart at the border. These are families that want to have an ability to go to work and to make an honest living. These are honest and very docile, peaceful people.

SCHMITZ: You're the foreign minister of the country. I would imagine you took this job because you believed that you could change things, that you have hope. I'm wondering, is there anything about the situation in your home country right now that gives you hope?

DUPUY: I have hope because I see - every day when I go to work towards the ministry, I see the string of children in uniform with their backpacks, crossing, you know, piles of trash and crossing muddy waters to go to school and being carried on the backs of their parents in order for their white socks not to get dirtied by the mud. I see the hope in so many honest citizens wanting to build a country that was promised to them by their forefathers and foremothers. The reality, and this is a case I like to make, is that today in Haiti, the only thing keeping us from striving is poverty, is lack of opportunity. This may be our very last chance to save our country and to make sure we can put it on the rails of sustainable development. But by no means is this easy. By no means does this work if we're left alone.

SCHMITZ: That's Dominique Dupuy, Haiti's foreign minister. Minister Dupuy, thank you.

DUPUY: Thank you so much, Rob.

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