The U.S. said Monday it would contribute an additional $100 million to a planned multinational effort to counter ongoing violence in Haiti, where gangs have asserted violent control over much of the capital Port-au-Prince.
The U.S. also announced it would send $33 million in new humanitarian aid to give residents more access to food, water and health assistance.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Caribbean leaders in a closed-door session in Jamaica Monday to address the surging violence.
Political and economic leaders in Caricom, a 15-member intergovernmental group in the Caribbean region, are trying to cool tensions and establish a transitional government in Haiti.
The group said on Friday that while "we are making considerable progress, the stakeholders are not yet where they need to be."
Blinken and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols participated in the meeting. Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been stranded in Puerto Rico, did not attend. Calls are growing for his resignation.
Gang elements have attacked government targets across Port-au-Prince since the end of February, closing airports, setting fire to police stations and freeing thousands of inmates from the island nation's prisons.
Dozens have died and more than 15,000 are now homeless due to the violence.
The U.N. Security Council has called on Haiti's gangs to stop the recruitment of children and the commission of sexual violence.
The city's main port is still closed, and reserves of food and water are running low.
Haiti descends into chaos, facing an uncertain future
Haiti is in crisis. The Caribbean nation is spiraling into chaos, as violent gangs now roam much of the country.
Officials have called for a multinational force on the ground in Haiti to supplement the country's police forces and address the violence.
Over the weekend the U.S. military added security and airlifted nonessential personnel out of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.
The U.S. says it's ready to give "enabling support" to the planned multinational mission, "including planning assistance, information sharing, airlift, communications, and medical support."
