2024-03-09 04:51:04
The surroundings of the National Palace of Haiti, in Port-au-Prince, were the scene of a new escalation of violence this Friday night, as confirmed by the Efe agency from the scene. A succession of shootings has raised tension in a large area of the center of the capital as confusion grows over what happened. The last week has been one of the most chaotic in memory since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. In a few days, there have been the mass escape of more than 3,000 prisoners from several prisons, attacks on the main airport in country and clashes between military, police and organized crime gang members, led by former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, alias Barbecue, who threatened a civil war if the acting head of Government, Ariel Henry, who is in Puerto Rico, does not resign.
In the midst of contradictory versions about the shootings in a country closed tight and prostrate in the face of violence, some theses do not rule out that the objective of the armed gangs is the seizure of the National Palace. The images spread on social networks also show large holes in the walls of the Port-au-Prince airport.
The day had passed in apparent calm in the metropolitan area of the city and only in the afternoon were sporadic shots fired. However, in the early hours of the night chaos broke out. Tension has increased exponentially in Haiti after it emerged on February 28 that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had committed to holding elections before the end of August 2025. The violence reached its peak last Saturday, when The gangs entered the two main prisons in the capital, which facilitated the escape of more than 3,000 prisoners. Henry, persecuted by armed gangs since Moïse’s assassination, has not been able to return to the country, which this week closed air connections from Miami and Santo Domingo.
The prime minister is now the target of pressure both internally and abroad to promote a transition that will help stop the terrible crisis and unchecked violence that is suffocating Haitians and has unleashed an unprecedented migratory flow. Haiti is waiting for the deployment of an international security support mission led by Kenya, which was approved by the United Nations last October and which has not yet materialized.
Adding to these pressures is Guy Philippe, who led a coup in Haiti in 2004 and returned to Port-au-Prince last year after serving time in the United States. This former coup police chief demanded the resignation of the Government on Friday. “He should resign,” Philippe said in statements to the Reuters agency. “I think he should stay where he is now… And let the Haitians decide his fate.”
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