The gangs that control Port-au-Prince attacked one of the most affluent areas of the Haitian capital in the last few hours, where at least 14 bodies appeared this Monday morning, in a new example of the violence that devastates the small and poor Caribbean country.
Hours before a UN Security Council meeting on Haiti, and waiting for the formation of a transitional presidential council to be finalized, the gangs once again demonstrated their power in the capital.
An AFP photographer was able to see the 14 lifeless bodies in Pétion-Ville, as well as two local residents, who for their part counted around 10 dead. It is unknown at this time under what circumstances these people died.
Since dawn, armed men have spread terror in Laboule and Thomassin, two neighborhoods in that area where they have attacked a bank, a gas station and several private residences, indicated the two residents interviewed by AFP.
“There was nothing. They arrived hooded in their cars, on their motorcycles, with their own ambulance, and massacred the population of Pétion-Ville,” said another resident, Vincent Jean Robert.
Among the looted houses is that of a judge of the Haitian Court of Accounts, Pierre Volmar Demesyeux, who was able to escape from the house thanks to a police intervention, according to one of his relatives.
Haiti has been suffering a wave of violence since the beginning of the month, when several gangs joined forces to attack strategic places in Port-au-Prince in a fight against Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The leader, highly questioned both in his country and by the international community, announced his resignation a week ago from Puerto Rico and the creation of a presidential transition council.
But negotiations to form this seven-member body, divided between the main political forces and the private sector, have been delayed.
One of the parties that should integrate that group, the leftist Pitit Desalin, resigned from participating in it. And Prime Minister Henry’s December 21 Collective took until Monday to find a consensus candidate, former senator Louis Gérald Gilles, according to a source close to the negotiations.
“This (political) process is going well, but it is fragile and we hope that (the transitional council) will be announced as soon as possible,” Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said after the Security Council meeting in the ONU.
A wish shared by the United States, which expressed hope that the new authorities will be ready as of this Monday.
Humanitarian crisis
“The key now is to move forward on the security front,” said Canadian ambassador Robert Rae after the United Nations meeting. “All these things go together, achieving a political agreement, advancing security.”
Haitian authorities have been trying for days to stop the terror of powerful gangs with measures such as a state of emergency and nightly curfews, which are barely respected.
And Kenya, which promised to send police to lead an international security mission supervised by the UN, suspended its intervention until the new authorities come into force.
Without security, with the airport closed and the port victim of looting, the country has plunged into a serious humanitarian crisis.
To try to alleviate this situation, the United Nations announced this Monday the start of an airlift with the neighboring Dominican Republic to bring material to Haiti.
“At the moment they are only the first flights, but we hope that there will be a more regular movement of helicopters to be able to improve access to Port-au-Prince,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The day before, the director of the UN children’s agency (Unicef), Catherine Russell, had warned about the catastrophe facing Haitians.
“Many people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition and we are not able to get them the help they need,” he declared in an interview with the American channel CBS. “It’s the worst situation we’ve seen in decades. It’s almost a scene from ‘Mad Max,'” she added.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of displaced people in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area has increased by 15 percent since the beginning of the year. In the capital, 160 thousand people cannot return to their homes.
The United States evacuated 30 of its citizens who were still in Haiti on Sunday, on a charter flight that left Cap Haitien and landed in Florida, according to the State Department.
2024-03-19 00:41:27
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