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The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, met on Tuesday with the Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé at the State Department in Washington to reaffirm U.S. support for the stabilization process in Haiti and its path toward holding elections.
We reaffirm our nation's support for Haiti's path towards elections and the importance of the multi-year reauthorization of Congress for the HOPE/HELP programs," Rubio wrote on his official account on X after the meeting.
Rubio praised Fils-Aimé's leadership in the context of the expansion of Haitian security forces and emphasized the progress in the deployment of the Gang Suppression Force, approved by the UN Security Council through the Resolution 2793 on September 30, 2025.
The secretary emphasized the need for a timely implementation of the mandate of this force, in a context where gangs —especially the coalition "Viv Ansanm"— control approximately 90% of Port-au-Prince and have displaced 1.4 million people.
Haiti is experiencing one of the worst security crises in its history, with a homicide rate among the highest in the world: more than 1,200 people died just between July and September 2025.
On March 28 and 29, the gang Gran Grif killed at least 30 people in Petite-Rivière in Artibonite, showcasing the spread of violence beyond the capital.
In the political arena, Fils-Aimé has served as the interim Prime Minister since November 10, 2024, and following the dissolution of the Transitional Presidential Council on February 7, 2026, he assumed all executive powers of the country.
On February 23, 2026, Fils-Aimé signed the "National Pact for Stability and the Organization of Elections," supported by political parties and civil society, which positions him as the sole executive until the next elections are held.
Rubio also reaffirmed the support of the Trump administration for the multi-year reauthorization of the HOPE/HELP programs, which provide tariff preferences for Haitian textiles and sustain thousands of jobs on the island.
These programs expired on September 30, 2025, and although the House of Representatives approved on January 12, 2026, a bipartisan reauthorization for three years with retroactive effects until September 30, 2028, the measure is still pending approval in the Senate Finance Committee.
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