Port-au-Prince, Haiti — The Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot down three planes and the United Nations also temporarily suspended flights to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, limiting incoming humanitarian aid in the country. Bullets hit Spirit Airlines plane as he prepared to land in the capital on Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to close. Photos and video obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane.
On Tuesday, JetBlue and American Airlines announced that post-flight inspections revealed their planes were also shot down Monday as they were leaving Port-au-Prince. Americans have suspended flights to the capital until February 12.
The shootings were part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country was gripped by gang violence. took the oath of office to his new Prime Minister after a tumultuous political process. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operations during Monday’s violence.
Cibao International Airport Document
Port-au-Prince’s airport will remain closed until November 18 and Dujarric said the UN would divert flights to the country’s second airport, located in the more peaceful northern town of Cap Haïtien.
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince said in a security alert Monday that it was aware of “gang-led efforts” to block travel to and from the capital, which could include “armed violence and disruptions to roads, ports and airports. “.
“The security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous,” warned the embassy. “Travel to Haiti is at your own risk. The U.S. government cannot guarantee your security while traveling to airports, across borders, or on any subsequent travel. You should consider your personal security situation before traveling anywhere in Haiti.”
Even more limited access to the epicenter of the violence, Port-au-Prince, risks being devastating as gangs are stifling life in the capital pushed Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that cutting flights would mean “limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country.”
Already, a convoy of 20 trucks filled with food and medical equipment in the south had been postponed and a cash assistance operation for a thousand people in the Carrefour area where violence broke out had to be canceled.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure continued operations in this challenging environment,” he said. “We call for an end to the escalation of violence, to allow safe, sustainable and unhindered humanitarian access. »
On Tuesday, life in much of the Haitian capital was frozen after the wave of violence. Heavily armed police officers in armored vehicles checked passing public transport trucks outside the airport.
CLARENCE SIFFROY/AFP/Getty
Schools were closed, as were banks and administrations. The streets, where only the day before gangs and police were locked in violent gunfire, were eerily empty, with few people riding other than a motorcycle with a man who had been shot hanging on the back.
The sounds of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets in the afternoon – a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haitian elites and strong pressure from the international community to restore peace, the country’s toxic gangs maintained their grip on a much of the Caribbean. nation.
The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence is facing a lack of funding and staffing, prompting calls for a UN peacekeeping mission.
President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti, was the first leader on the island to condemn the violence, calling the shooting a “terrorist act.”
On Tuesday, a transition council created in April to restore democratic order in Haiti also condemned the violence.
“This cowardly crime, which threatens the sovereignty and security of Haiti, aims to isolate our country on the international scene. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be hunted down and brought to justice,” the council wrote in a statement.
The council has received harsh criticism from many in Haiti who say its political struggles and allegations of corruption against three of its members have created political instability, allowing gangs to seize power with violence like that seen Monday .
This came to a head this weekend, when he sacked former caretaker prime minister Garry Conille – long at odds with the council. They replaced him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who was sworn in on Monday surrounded by civil servants and diplomats in suits as gangs terrorized the capital around them.
Neither Fils-Aimé nor Conille have commented on the wave of violence.
Conille initially called the council’s decision illegal, but acknowledged Fils-Aimé’s appointment in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday.
“(I) wish him success in accomplishing this mission. At this crucial moment, unity and solidarity are essential for our country. Long live Haiti!” he wrote. Fils-Aimé promised to work with international partners to restore peace and organize long-awaited elections, a vow also made by his predecessor.
But many Haitians, like Martha Jean-Pierre, 43, have little taste for political fighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to continue expanding their control.
Jean-Pierre was among those who braved the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell the plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes she carried in a basket on her head. She had no choice, she said: selling was the only way for her to feed her children.
“What is the point of a new prime minister if there is no security, if I cannot move freely and sell my goods?” she said, pointing to her basket of vegetables. “It’s my bank account. It’s what my family depends on.”
It’s a frustration that has concerned international actors like the UN and the United States who have pushed for a peaceful resolution in Haiti.
On Tuesday, the US State Department lamented that Conille and the Council “have not been able to move forward constructively” and called on Fils-Aimé and the Council to provide a clear action plan outlining a vision common on how to reduce violence and pave the way for violence. the way forward for elections to be held in order to “prevent further impasses”.
“The acute and immediate needs of the Haitian people demand that the transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actors,” he wrote in a statement.
