By Sarah Morland

(Reuters) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrived in the southeastern Haitian city of Jacmel on Wednesday afternoon in a rare visit by a foreign head of state to the Caribbean nation, as Haiti suffering from prolonged conflict with armed gangs.

Colombia is also facing a surge in violence from rebel factions that has stalled peace talks.

Petro arrived in the small coastal city about 90 km (55 miles) from the capital Port-au-Prince aboard a Colombian military plane hours after the visit was expected to begin, where hundreds of residents turned out to see upon his arrival.

Petro had a layover in the Dominican Republic, encircling the war-torn capital of Haiti where several shootings against diplomatic vehicles were reported this week.

He met with top Haitian government officials including Leslie Voltaire, who holds the rotating presidency of the transitional council, in an engagement intended to strengthen bilateral relations.

In an evening ceremony, Voltaire thanked Petro for coming despite the violence in Colombia and said their cooperation would help Haiti in terms of security and economy, without giving more details on the outcome of the talks.

Petro also spoke of solidarity in the face of tightening immigration restrictions in the United States.

“They don’t like Haitians, they don’t like Venezuelans … they don’t like Colombians,” he said. “Well, let’s leave them alone for a while and see what happens. I think we’ll work together, and those who cast us out will be alone.”

Voltaire says he wants to develop closer ties with South American countries in a bid to strengthen security support because a UN-backed security mission has failed to prevent the attacks. growth of gangs in the country.

The gangs, since the approval of the mission in late 2023, have acquired strategic territories resulting in repeated closures of the capital’s main port and airport, and worsening food shortages resulting in half of 11 million of the country’s population are starving.

The number of internally displaced people has more than quintupled to over 1 million from around 200,000 before the partially deployed mission was approved by the United Nations Security Council.

Also on Wednesday, the UN Security Council met for a briefing on the conflict, with many countries calling for stronger measures to restrict the ongoing illegal flow of arms, mostly from the United States to the now allied criminal organizations in Haiti.

Haiti’s Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste repeated calls for the mission, which he said was “grossly underfunded” and lacked key air and maritime capabilities, to be transformed into of a formal UN peacekeeping mission so that it does not rely on voluntary contributions.

“We’re very much looking forward to other contributions that have been promised for a long time,” he said. “Haiti cannot overcome this crisis alone. That is why we are asking for more resources to strengthen our security.”

More than 200,000 Haitian migrants were deported back to the country last year.