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Haiti begins to rebuild army – primarily for reconstruction purposes
Brazil has also expressed interest in training 1,500 more recruits, Joazile said. Five hundred would go to Brazil, and a 1,000 would stay in Haiti.
Martelly pledged to restore the National Armed Forces of Haiti while he was a candidate in the 2011 election, but he has backed off the plan as president. Some foreign diplomats have said government of Haiti should instead focus on strengthening its police force, for which there are only 10,000 officers in a country of 10 million people.
The government abolished the military under President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after years of military coups and human rights abuses. It would require a vote by Parliament to officially reconstitute an army. That could be tricky as Martelly has few allies in the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
