PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Haiti on Thursday to reaffirm the U.S. government’s commitment to the international anti-gang mission in the Caribbean country and press for long-awaited general elections.

Some 400 Kenyan police have been sent to Haiti to lead a UN-backed mission to quell gang violence in the Haitian capital and beyond, but concerns are growing that the mission lacks funding and equipment.

Brian Nichols, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said Wednesday that the U.S. government is considering a U.N. peacekeeping operation as one way to secure money and resources to fight the gangs that control 80 percent of the Haitian capital.

Blinken arrived a day after Haiti’s government expanded a state of emergency to the entire country. It was imposed earlier this year in the capital and surrounding areas to stem ongoing violence.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille and the nine-member transitional presidential council that was formed after the resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry. He also planned to meet with unspecified political party leaders.

Blinken will also meet with the head of the international mission and the Haitian police chief.

“Our goal is to recognize the positive progress in improving security and encourage action to establish a transitional electoral council so that Haiti can prepare for elections,” Nichols told reporters before his trip.

Haiti last held elections in 2016, and authorities have since said gang violence and political unrest are the reasons behind the failure to hold further elections.

In July 2021, former President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, and gang violence has increased dramatically since then. In February, gangs launched coordinated attacks on police stations and the main international airport, which remained closed for almost three months. They also stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 prisoners.

The violence had subsided somewhat by the time the first Kenyan police unit arrived in late June.

“We are seeing a dramatic increase in patrols and operations aimed at restoring security and a sense of normalcy to Haiti,” Nichols said.

But gangs continue to attack communities surrounding the capital, Port-au-Prince.

After meeting with Haitian officials, Blinken plans to fly Thursday evening to the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.

He is scheduled to meet with Dominican President Luis Abinader and other officials on Friday and return to the U.S. later that day.

Nichols said the talks with Abinader would focus on three priorities: strengthening economic ties, promoting values, including respect for human and labor rights, and promoting greater security in the region, especially in Haiti.

Abinader has come under fire in recent years for his administration’s treatment of Haitian migrants and people born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents.

He has also largely closed the airspace over Haiti and is building a wall between the two countries.