PORT-AU-PRINCE — About 150 military police officers from Central America have arrived in Haiti to reinforce the embattled government’s fight against violent gangs that have upended daily life for millions in the Caribbean country.

The deployment of around 75 security officers, mostly from Guatemala, was greeted Saturday at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, by the Kenyan commander of the UN-backed mission that for months has been struggling to restore order.  “The gangs have only two choices: surrender, lay down their weapons, and face justice, or face us in the field,” the officer, Godfrey Otunge, said in remarks at a welcoming ceremony.

“With the addition of the Guatemalan and El Salvador forces, the gangs will have nowhere to hide. We will root them out of their enclave.” A similar sized contingent, which also included a small number of forces from El Salvador, travelled aboard a US Air Force aircraft and was greeted Friday by top Haitian officials and US Ambassador Dennis Hankins. (Jamaica-gleaner)