United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Mexican diplomat Carlos Ruiz Massieu as his special representative for Haiti and head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). Ruiz, who has led the UN Verification Mission in Colombia since 2019, succeeds Ecuador’s María Isabel Salvador in the post. In a letter to the Security Council, Guterres said BINUH will be reshaped into a smaller mission because the worsening security environment allows for only one helicopter to evacuate international staff from Port-au-Prince. The review is expected to cut the office’s headcount in the 2026 budget while concentrating on human-rights monitoring and political support to Haiti’s transitional authorities. Ruiz Massieu takes charge as gang violence reaches new highs. A UN human-rights update released 11 July recorded 3,141 killings between January and June, bringing the death toll to 4,864 since October 2024. Armed attacks also forced some 27,000 people to flee their homes during the first week of July, pushing total displacement close to 1.3 million. The report warns the violence could destabilise neighbouring Caribbean states and urges donors to bolster a 2025 humanitarian plan that is only 8 percent funded.