UN Secretary-General António Guterres Monday condemned the slaughtering of over 180 people between Dec. 6 and 8 near Port-au-Prince after a gang leader was told that the victims, all or most of them aged over 60, had rendered a son of his ill through witchcraft.
At least 110 people, all of them aged over 60, were slaughtered by rebel gangs in the Haitian town of Cite Soleil, not far from Port-au-Prince, which is one of the poorest and most violent areas in the Caribbean country. According to the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (Rnddh) report released Sunday, the Viv Ansanm gang killed with machetes and bladed weapons at least 60 people on Friday and 50 on Saturday.
Violence-torn Haiti keeps making headlines worldwide as a Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale was shot at when trying to land at noon local time by gangs surrounding Port-au-Prince's Toussaint Louverture International Airport on the same day that the new interim Prime Minister was sworn in.
El Salvador's Congress gave its nod this week to the sending of troops to help violence-torn Haiti where crime gangs reign supreme. At first, El Salvador's assistance will be focused on medevac operations in coordination with the United Nations (UN) blue helmets deployed in the Caribbean country. The Parliamentarian decision thus ratified with 57 votes out of 60 the so-called ”Agreement on the Condition of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) in Haiti” signed by the diplomatic missions of El Salvador and Haiti to the Organization of American States (OAS).
The already critical situation in Haiti has been reported to have taken a turn for the worse this week as gangs up their grip in the Caribbean country, threatening government officials and seeking to expand their influence to the areas they still do not control, the United Nation’s Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) warned Tuesday. “The situation in Haiti has regrettably worsened,” BINUH Chief Maria Isabel Salvador said in a briefing to the UN Security Council in which she mentioned mounting attacks over the past week. Over 5 million people are estimated to be going hungry, with thousands already facing famine.
Provisional authorities in violence-torn Haiti are stepping up their efforts to garner international help in their fight against local gangs. During the weekend, visiting Port-au-Prince was Kenyan President William Ruto, whose country has already contributed a 400-strong police force and pledged to add some more troops shortly if necessary. At the same time, Presidential Transitional Council member Leslie Voltaire met with India's Ambassador Ramu Abbagani to discuss the issue, in addition to other topics such as climate change, natural disasters, public health, artificial intelligence, and solar energy.
The United States' Treasury Department Tuesday imposed a series of sanctions on former Haitian President Michel Joseph Martelly (2011-2016) for allegedly abusing his influence to facilitate drug trafficking. The former head of state is also accused of perpetuating the ongoing crisis in the Caribbean country.
According to senior humanitarian aid officials, the assistance plan launched for Haiti last February is less than a quarter funded when around US$ 680 million is required to tackle the ongoing gang violence and bring necessary supplies to the local population.
The first batch of Kenyan law enforcement officers making up a UN peacekeeping mission landed Tuesday at Port-au-Prince's Toussaint Louverture Airport. The African country intends to send a total of 1,000 troops to the Caribbean nation gripped by rogue gangs, resulting in over 580,000 people nationwide left homeless from pillaging.
Haiti's transitional council managed to appoint a prime minister this week as the Caribbean country keeps fighting street gangs for effective control of Port-au-Prince and other key locations nationwide. Garry Conille has been chosen for the post he already held between Oct. 2011 and May 2012 under then-President Michel Martelly. Conille has been UNICEF's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean since January 2023.