The US Senate voted 89 to 1 to confirm Mr. Denis Hankins as the US Ambassador to Haiti against the backdrop of escalating security crisis in Haiti, as reported by American media on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Mr. Hankins has 38 years of experience in the US Foreign Service. Succeeding Michel B. Sison, Denis Hankins has previously worked in Sudan and Congo and served as ambassador to Mali and Guinea. Currently, he is a foreign policy advisor at the Pentagon's National Guard Bureau. President Joe Biden nominated Mr. Hankins in May 2023, at a time when the embassy had already been without a confirmed chief for 19 months by the Senate. Eric Stromayer, charge d'affaires, led the embassy during this period. The White House stated that it was "urgent" for Mr. Hankins to assume his duties at a critical moment for Haiti. Gangs have stormed police stations and prisons in the capital, threatening to overthrow the country's fragile transitional government. "This is a critical time to make sure that we have an ambassador in place," said John Kirby, national security communications advisor, in a press briefing on Thursday, noting that violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, had only increased in recent days. "We certainly need an ambassador urgently," he said.