As reported by Real World Radio, the balance after almost a decade of multilateral military presence is considered negative by political and social organizations of the Caribbean country, whose Senate recently approved by unanimous vote a resolution demanding its immediate annulment.

In addition, the presence of MINUSTAH has prevented access to all kinds of solidarity that does not correspond to the military frameworks, said Silvia Pose, member of the Uruguay Coordination for the Withdrawal of Troops from Haiti in an interview with Real World Radio carried out in the framework of a mobilization held downtown Montevideo, last Saturday.

Silvia said that health workers, educators, social assistants, among others, have tried to do voluntary work on the island, and MINUSTAH itself prevented it.

“The only aim of the troops in Haiti is to occupy a territory and prevent the citizens from being free”, said Silvia. She also described the living and working conditions suffered by the Haitians under the "stabilization" regime. “Today, the Haitian workforce is the cheapest and competes with sweatshops in China. Nothing of what the MINUSTAH was supposed to solve was solved so far”.

On several occasions, the Uruguayan Parliament extended –with votes from the party in office that holds a majority- the permanence of Uruguayan troops in Haiti, and despite some representatives opposed, the majority prevailed and the dissidents had to leave their positions. This was the case of MPs Guillermo Chifflet and Esteban Perez of the party in office. When rejecting the new extension last December, Perez also denounced that the military officers, under the UN “blue helmets” were carrying out illegal activities on the island.