Chile Leader Visits Haiti as UN Prepares for Troop Pullout

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has come to Haiti for talks with government and U.N. officials weeks before her country's announced withdrawal of military peacekeepers.

 

Bachelet's Monday visit includes meetings with President Jovenel Moise, the U.N. special envoy to Haiti and the nearly 400 Chileans posted to the U.N. stabilization mission.

 

Chile's government announced last year it would begin withdrawing the peacekeepers, and Bachelet's office now says the pullout is due to start April 15.

 

Her visit comes as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is recommending that the U.N. peacekeeping mission as a whole wrap up with the departure of all 2,370 military personnel by Oct. 15. Troops come from 19 countries.

 

Bachelet is also due to visit a school rebuilt with Chilean assistance after a 2010 earthquake.