Brazilian U.N. peacekeepers will remain in Haiti until presidential elections are held in that Caribbean nation sometime next year, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday. Brazil has kept 1,200 soldiers in Haiti since May as part of a multilateral U.N. force, whose original mandate of six months is expected to be extended for another 12 months. Silva defended the presence of Brazilian troops in Haiti and made a veiled criticism of the role played by U.S. troops in areas of conflict. ``If we were not there (in Haiti), then American troops would (be in Haiti), doing what Brazilian soldiers would never do, for our mandate is not to act as a police force but as an ineffective a peacekeeping force,'' Silva said at the ceremony. He said the troops would remain in Haiti ``until next year, when that country holds elections for president and a government.''
| Which will look like the previous president and government. |
According to a U.N. resolution in April, the multinational force, which is under Brazil's command and currently totals some 5,000 troops, should have 6,600 soldiers and 1,600 police. Other nations that have sent troops to Haiti include Chile, Argentina, Peru El Salvador China and Spain. |