President Joe Biden speaks during. News conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. will bolster security at its embassy in Haiti following last week's assassination of that country's president, but sending American troops to stabilize the country was "not on the agenda."
Haiti's interim government last week asked the U.S. and the United Nations to deploy troops to protect key infrastructure following President Jovenel Moïse's assassination. Biden signaled he was not open to the request, which comes as he is drawing down U.S. forces in Afghanistan this summer.
"We're only sending American Marines to our embassy," Biden said. "The idea of sending American forces to Haiti is not on the agenda," he added.
Mathias Pierre, Haiti's elections minister, told The Associated Press Thursday that he believes the request for U.S. troops is relevant given what he called a "fragile situation" and the need to create a secure environment for elections scheduled to happen in 120 days.
He also said Biden's comment that sending U.S. troops was "not on the agenda" still leaves the option open.
"This is not a closed door. The evolution of the situation will determine the outcome," Pierre said. "In the meantime, the government is doing everything we can to stabilize the country, return to a normal environment and organize elections while trying to come to a political agreement with most political parties."
The request for U.S. intervention recalled the tumult following Haiti's last presidential assassination, in 1915, when an angry mob dragged President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam out of the French Embassy and beat him to death. In response, President Woodrow Wilson sent Marines into Haiti, justifying an American military occupation — which lasted nearly two decades — as a way to avert anarchy.
Biden addressed the situation in Haiti during a joint press conference at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
MADRID (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expressing optimism that humanitarian corridors could be opened to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to the rest of the world amid Russia’s war.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
PHILADELPHIA – The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley announced that the Evzones, the Presidential Guard of Greece will be participating in the Philadelphia Greek Independence Day Parade on March 20.
O oceanic you sing and sail
White on your body and yellow on your chimeneas
For you're tired of the filthy waters of the harbors
You who loved the distant Sporades
You who lifted the tallest flags
You who sail clear through the most dangerous caves
Hail to you who let yourself be charmed by the sirens
Hail to you for never having been afraid of the Symplegades
(Andreas Empeirikos)
What traveler has not been fascinated by the Greek islands, drawn by the Sirens’ song of a traveler’s dreams?
TNH and our video show ‘Mission’ marked the change of the season by transporting viewers into the heart of summer.
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