Above: Brazilian peacekeepers in Haiti (UN Photo/Victoria Hazou)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of its peacekeeping force in Haiti for another year, but cut the number of troops by 2,500. In a unanimous resolution, the 15-member body extended the force’s authorization until October 2012. The number of troops in Haiti will fall from approximately 13,000 to just over 10,500. The Council said Haiti had “made considerable strides” since the earthquake of January 2010. Last month, Haitian President Michel Martelly, in what was described by some as a shift, asked for UN troops to remain in the country.