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☆ Haiti: Machete-wielding militias battle gangs in Port-au-Prince as elites vie for power
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Caitlin Stephen Hu | David Culver | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Port-au-Prince, Haiti CNN —The wide road that passes in front of Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport has a post-apocalyptic stillness these days. But leaving the city isn’t an option this time; the airport, under siege by gangs, has been forced to close. Evelio Contreras/CNNPort-au-Prince’s gangs are still choking off the supply of food, fuel and water across the city. Gangs have long haunted the residents of Port-au-Prince, but their reach has dramatically expanded over recent years, covering 80% of the city today, according to UN estimates. Marie Suze Saint Charles in a hospital, Port-au-Prince March 17 Evelio Contreras/CNNThe proliferation of police, gang and civilian checkpoints meanwhile is fracturing Haiti’s capital into wary and anxious fiefdoms.

Persons: Haiti’s Toussaint, Ariel Henry, Evelio Contreras, ”, Marie Maurice, they’ve, Maurice, Prince, –, Marie Suze Saint Charles, Marie, Suze Saint Charles Organizations: Haiti CNN, National Penitentiary, CNN, Haiti’s National Police, Transnational, Refugees, Argentine, Armored, International Organization for Migration Locations: Prince, Haiti, Port, Haitian, Canapé, Swiss, Argentine Bellegarde, ”

☆ US, Germany and EU embassies begin evacuating staff as violence spirals in gang-plagued Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Caitlin Stephen Hu | Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Dajabon, Dominican Republic CNN —The United States and other diplomatic missions have begun evacuating personnel from Haiti, as gang violence in the Caribbean nation’s capital Port-au-Prince continues to spiral. US Southern Command said the move was consistent with “standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide.” No Haitians were on board the military aircraft, it added. Another source with knowledge of the operations told CNN there have been at least 12 helicopter evacuation flights into Port-au-Prince over the past three days, all evacuating diplomatic and humanitarian staff. However, shots fired nearby after the last flight’s take off on Sunday have called into question the viability of continuing the evacuation flights, the source said. The World Food Programme suspended its maritime transport services in Port-au-Prince from distributing aid across Haiti due to the instability.

Persons: Dajabon, ”, Joe Biden, Peter Sauer, Stefano Gatto, —, Prince, Gang, Jimmy Cherizier, Ariel Henry, Stephane Dujarric, Henry Organizations: Dominican Republic CNN, CNN, US State Department, US Southern Command, Southern Command, National Security Council, CNN Helicopter, European Union, EU, Caribbean Port Services, Dominican, United Nations, US Department of Treasury, Food, UN, OCHA, Kenya, Kenyan, Caribbean Locations: Dominican Republic, United States, Haiti, Caribbean, Port, Dominican, Haitian, Santo Domingo, Petionville, Haiti’s, Puerto Rico, CARICOM, Kingston

Port-au-Prince, Haiti CNN —From above, Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince still looks serene, its white-washed homes climbing steep green hills that encircle a glittering bay. Police officers run holding their guns while confronting a gang in Port-au-Prince, Haiti March 1, 2024. Haiti’s gangs were once seen as thuggish instruments for powerful politicians and business elites. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry at the United States International University Africa, in Nairobi on March 1, 2024. Anger toward the government for Haiti’s gangs problem is misplaced, he also said, emphasizing that the government has limited options.

Persons: Toussaint, Prince, Ariel Henry, Haiti’s, “, ”, Jimmy “, Robin Hood, Ralph Tedy Erol, Henry, “ Ariel Henry, Haiti Ulrika Richardson, Kraze Barye, John Bosco, Jeremie, CNN’s, Ariel kraze peyi, Ariel, Jovenel Moise, Guy Philippe, Odric Octina, Johnson Sabin, Shutterstock, Simon Maina, Henry’s, Jean Junior Joseph, –, Leinz Vales, Sean Walker Organizations: Haiti CNN, CNN, Police, United Nations, FBI, Global, Transnational, UN, National Police, Haitian, Canadian Embassy, Catholic, St, Bank, ”, Haitian Environment, Penitentiary, Reuters, Haiti, Caricom, United States International University Africa, Getty, Kenyan, United Nations Security Council, United Locations: Prince, Haiti, Port, Toussaint L’Ouverture, Kenya, New York, Delmas, Cité, Kizito, Jeremie, farmworkers, United States, Canada, It’s, Haitian, West, Nairobi, AFP

☆ Haiti declares state of emergency after armed gangs storm two of the country's largest prisons
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Sam Meredith | Www.Linkedin.Com In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

This screen grab taken from AFPTV shows tires on fire near the main prison of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 3, 2024, after a breakout by several thousand inmates. A 72-hour state of emergency has been declared in Haiti after armed gangs stormed two of the country's largest prisons, reportedly allowing thousands of people to escape. A government statement said two prisons, one in the capital of Port-au-Prince and another in nearby Croix des Bouquets, were overrun by gang members over the weekend, according to multiple media reports. Nearly all the 4,000 inmates at Haiti's National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince were thought to have escaped. Haitian lawyer Arnel Remy, head of the Collective of Lawyers for the Defense of Human Rights in Haiti, said in a Google-translated update on the X social media platform that a total of 3,597 prisoners escaped from the National Penitentiary.

Persons: Patrick Boisvert, Al, Ariel Henry, Arnel Remy Organizations: CNBC, Finance, Lawyers, Defense of Human Rights, National Penitentiary Locations: Port, Prince, Haiti, Croix des, Haiti's, Al Jazeera, Boisvert, Haitian, Kenya

Gangs attacked two prisons in Haiti, including the country’s largest penitentiary, and allowed prisoners to escape on Saturday night, according to Haitian officials, the latest instance of escalating violence and disorder in the country’s capital, which has been ravaged by gang violence for more than two years. While details of the attack remained murky, the government of Haiti released a statement Sunday saying that police officers were unable to prevent gang members from releasing “a large number of prisoners,” adding that several inmates and prison staff were injured. Haiti’s national penitentiary held nearly 4,000 inmates at the time of the attack and the other facility, the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison, held roughly 1,400, according to local human rights groups. At least two of the country’s police unions went on social media on Saturday requesting that all police officers report to the national prison in Port-au-Prince, the capital, to help control the situation and prevent the inmates from fleeing.

Locations: Haiti, Port

☆ Haiti: Hundreds of prisoners escape Port-au-Prince prison as violence escalates
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Caitlin Hu | Manveena Suri | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Hundreds of prisoners have escaped from Haiti’s National Penitentiary in the capital, Port-au-Prince, after fighting broke out on Saturday, according to a law enforcement source. On Friday, Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, said he would continue in his effort to try and oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry. “We ask the Haitian National Police and the military to take responsibility and arrest Ariel Henry. Caribbean leaders said Wednesday that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had agreed to hold general elections no later than August 31, 2025. Warring gangs control much of Port-au-Prince, choking off vital supply lines to the rest of the country.

Persons: Prince, Jimmy Cherizier, Ariel Henry, “, ” Cherizier, Ralph Tedy Erol, Henry, William Ruto Organizations: CNN, Haiti’s Police, National, Haitian National Police, United Nations, United States Department of Treasury, Protesters, Wednesday, Haitian, Kenyan, Central Directorate of, Judicial Police Locations: Haiti’s, Port, Prince, Haiti, Kenya, United

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