[ARCHIVO] President Bachelet leads tribute to representatives of Chilean troops who served in the peace mission in Haiti
The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, led a noontime tribute in Plaza de la Constitución in downtown Santiago, to personnel from the armed and security forces who participated in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
After welcoming them back to Chile, President Bachelet said, “you have been notable ambassadors of our country, working with our Haitian brothers on behalf of Chile and its people. You have shown patriotism day in and day out on foreign soil. You have demonstrated solidarity and generosity towards a nation that has faced all manner of challenges and needed a hand in order to move forward and overcome especially critical moments in its very rich history”.
Following the beginning of an institutional crisis and armed conflict in Haiti in 2004, the United Nations Security Council authorized the deployment of a Multinational Interim Force (MIFH) in February of that year. A total of 3,775 people were part of the effort. In early March, Chile deployed 336 personnel, the largest group that the country had ever sent to a UN peace mission. Over the past 13 years, over 12,000 Chilean men and women from the armed and security forces have served in Haiti.
President Bachelet explained, “our participation in Peace Missions, which dates back to the mid-20th century, is consistent with the concept of development that Chile defends and promotes. It is part of the vision that sustains three fundamental and complementary principles: the promotion of democracy, unlimited respect for human rights and the promotion of free trade. In order for those principles to prevail, we must have a global context of peace and security”.
Along these lines, she added, “today our country, as you well know, maintains a presence in United Nations missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cypress, India-Pakistan, the Middle East and the Central African Republic, where four officials of the Chief of Staff have been deployed since last February. In addition to these missions, we are participating in the Special Political Mission of Observers for the Post-Conflict period in Colombia, which is particularly notable because of the large number of women deployed there”.
She added, “peace missions express Chile’s ongoing policy, which is connected to the fact that we are founding members of the United Nations and our participation intensified following the return to democracy in the 1990s”.
Chile’s support for Haiti was not limited to improving security standards. Its representatives also provided diverse forms of community support including the repair and reconstruction of schools, creation of daycare facilities and funding for scholarships.
In her closing remarks, President Bachelet reiterated her gratitude and again recognized the commitment of the thousands of Chileans who were part of this work in Haiti: “Chile and the international community will not forget the sacrifice and nobility of those who committed to this mission, putting their family lives on hold, sometimes for long periods of time, in order to provide peace and security”.