Blinken to travel to Haiti to shore up security mission backing

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S., August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo

WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Haiti on Thursday, a senior U.S. official said, as Washington seeks to solidify the U.N.-backed security mission in the Caribbean country that has been ravaged by gang violence.

Brian Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said Blinken will meet with Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille and the transition council before traveling to the Dominican Republic.