Bemidji High School graduate wins confirmation to be U.S. ambassador to Haiti

Bemidji High School graduate and career diplomat Dennis Hankins has won overwhelming Senate confirmation to be U.S. ambassador to Haiti, where turmoil from gang attacks has Americans fleeing the Caribbean island nation.

Haiti’s main airport in Port-au-Prince has been closed following weeks of gang violence that is pushing many people to the brink of famine. Government and aid agencies this weekend reported looting of aid supplies as the situation worsened.

A charter flight from the less chaotic northern city of Cap-Haïtien carrying dozens of U.S. citizens fleeing spiraling gang violence in Haiti landed Sunday in Miami, U.S. State Department officials said.

The U.S. military last week flew in additional forces to bolster security at the U.S. embassy, which is in a neighborhood largely controlled by gangs.

Hankins was brought to Bemidji as a youngster, along with brother Knute, by his mother while their father traveled the world working in the oil industry, according to the independent government watchdog group AllGov.

Hankins, who graduated from Bemidji High School in 1977, went on to receive degrees from Georgetown University and the National War College, according to his U.S. State Department online biography.

The U.S. Senate confirmed the 64-year-old Hankins by a vote last week of 89-1, with Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., as the lone dissenter. President Joe Biden nominated Hankins to fill the position in May 2023. The previous U.S. ambassador to Haiti, Michele Sison, left the post in October 2021.

Cardin spelled out the dire circumstances that await Hankins in Haiti, noting that gangs have burned government buildings and attacked police stations while the prime minister was out of the country to facilitate an international peacekeeping mission.

“Gangs led a massive jail break releasing nearly 4,000 prisoners, [and] 15,000 Haitians have been forced to flee their homes,” Cardin said. Almost half the population is facing a food insecurity crisis. And this is within a very short distance of the United States of America.”

Following confirmation, committee member Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in a statement that “Ambassador Hankins will play an important role, alongside Haitian stakeholders and our international partners, in helping form the transitional presidential council and advancing a political process that ensures the Haitian people have the power to decide their future in free and fair elections.”

Previously, Hankins served as U.S. ambassador to Guinea. The new assignment begins his second tour representing U.S. interests in Haiti. He’s also served in diplomatic posts in Brazil, Sudan, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, Portugal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Thailand.