Latest news with #Haiti-born
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘A direct attack': South Florida leaders blast travel ban for Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba
South Florida leaders on Thursday denounced the Trump administration's travel ban targeting Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela, crisis-wracked nations that are among 19 countries hit with full or partial prohibitions against entering the United States. 'This is not only a cruel and xenophobic policy proposal – it is a blatant attempt to scapegoat an already suffering people. This unjust policy will sow chaos in our communities, separating families and disrupting lives,' said Marleine Bastien, a Haiti-born Miami-Dade County commissioner who represents one of the largest Haitian communities in the U.S. Bastien noted that the Haitian-American community is 'a cornerstone of Miami-Dade County, contributing to its culture, economy and strength. 'Targeting Haiti in this manner is not just only discriminatory, but a betrayal of the values America claims to uphold – compassion, justice, and opportunity for all,' she said, slamming the administration's recent immigration directives stripping Haitian migrants in the U.S. of immigration protections. On Thursday, there was still confusion among holders of current U.S. visas who are in Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela about whether they would be let in as of Monday when the travel ban takes effect. Still, South Florida elected officials emphasized the harm the policy would create in the communities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which of which boast sizable and thriving populations with roots in Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. North Miami Mayor Alex Desulme said his city's Haitian population aren't just residents. They are small-business owners, healthcare workers, educators and parents raising young children. South Florida boasts one of the largest Haitian diasporas in the United States. 'The reinstatement of this ban is a direct attack on the values of equity, compassion and opportunity that our city and this nation were built upon. It causes fear, separates families, disrupts lives and unfairly targets communities that have long contributed to the country's strength and prosperity,' said Desulme. He asked federal leaders to reconsider the 'harmful policy and work toward an immigration system that reflects our shared values and honors the dignity of all individuals.' Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen described the ban as an attack 'on our collective humanity, a blatant disregard for the principles that make our nation great. 'This policy is not about safety; it's about exclusion,' said the official, who is Haitian American. President Donald Trump flipped Miami-Dade red for the first time since George H.W. Bush won the presidency in 1988, riding new support throughout the majority-Hispanic county. He received loyal backing from local Republicans who also viewed his victory as integral to their own. But as the Trump administration has rolled out immigration policies targeting Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans, GOP officials in Miami have had to draw a careful balance between supporting the White House and the many immigrants in their district affected by Trump's immigration agenda. U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Miami Republican, told the Herald in a statement that travel restrictions could serve as 'temporary tools' to ensure national security and said they were a way to fight against the governments in Cuba and Venezuela. However, she warned that those with family-based petitions should be protected. 'We must draw a clear line between hostile regimes and the families who suffer under them,' she said. 'These are people who have followed the law and waited years, even decades, to reunite with loved ones in the U.S. We can protect our country while upholding the values that make America a beacon of hope and freedom.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Gang attacks force closure of Haiti's ‘beacon of hope' hospital as health crisis grows
In a crisis-wracked nation where hospitals were hurting even before U.S. aid freezes earlier this year and gangs torched or gutted many medical facilities, the University Hospital of Mirebalais was among the last still standing. With solar-power, 300-plus beds and a network of U.S. doctors and experts in global health, the 205,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility provided free cancer care to women and children. It allowed renal patients in northern and central Haiti to access free dialysis treatments without risking their lives passing through gang controlled roads to Port-au-Prince. And it had boasting rights as the only place in the entire Caribbean where conjoined twins were ever separated. 'It was our beacon of hope,' said Dr. Henri Ford, the Haiti-born dean of the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, who in 2015 led a team of more than two dozen health professionals in separating the 6-months old girls, joined at the abdomen, inside the Mirebalais hospital's operating room. 'It really stood as a symbol of the Haitian potential; what we could realize as a nation if we came together and put our minds to it.' With billions of dollars promised, and never delivered, after the devastating 2010 earthquake, l'Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, as it is known in French, was also a promise met. The $24 million privately built, public facility in Haiti's Central Plateau opened its doors in April of 2013 and was the vision of the late Dr. Paul Farmer. A world-renowned global health champion and co-founder of Boston-based Partners In Health, Farmer devoted his career to bringing healthcare to Haiti's rural poor. Weeks after evacuating the facility, the hospital's executive management has now informed staff in an internal note that the doors will remain closed 'until further notice.' The team cited 'the worrying security situation prevailing in the city.' It's another Haitian city fallen into the hands of armed gangs and another health facility forced to shutter its doors, further reducing the dwindling healthcare options for millions of Haitians. 'There is no way to justify the needless destruction of these medical facilities by the gangs,' said Dr. Ted Higgins, a retired Kansas city vascular surgeon who built and runs the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope, east of Port-au-Prince in the town of Fond-Parisien near the border with the Dominican Republic. 'It is senseless and criminal but continues to occur as we watch from a distance.' An American missionary, who helps with a medical clinic near the city of Mirebalais, described to Higgins on Wednesday the aftermath of the gangs' attack in the city, 30 miles northeast of the capital and near another border crossing with the Dominican border. 'They removed the solar panels, broke into the church and clinic, and stole medications along with medical and dental equipment, including the new X-ray and sonogram machines,' the missionary said. 'Even sadder, we built homes for two families that were squatting on the property when we purchased it years ago, they burned their homes. The area is under their control,' she went on to say, adding that the facility is now a gang headquarters. One church member who managed to escape to the nearby town of Cange, where Farmer first began his work in Haiti with a clinic before opening a network of medical centers, is now considering returning, the missionary added, because the woman believes it is only a matter of time before the armed groups attack Cange and she doesn't want to be there for the initial violence. 'At least,' the woman has rationalized about her return to Mirebalais even while being overrun by gangs, 'she will have a roof and food they give out from time to time.' The attacks were launched by two gangs, 400 Mawozo and the Canaan gang, which also refers to itself as 'Taliban.' Both are part of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, which now controls up to 90% of metropolitan Port-au-Prince and on Wednesday killed several members of Haiti's security forces and of a self-defense brigade during gangs' attempt to gain control of two new capital neighborhoods. After storming Mirebalais on March 31 and attacking the police station, gangs released more than 500 prisoners from the local prison. They then targeted the rural town of Saut d'Eau, which lies at the crossroads of the Central Plateau where Mirebalais is located and the West region where Port-au-Prince is situated. READ MORE: Cervical cancer is treatable. Why are women in Haiti still dying from it? More than 51,400 Haitians have been internally displaced in the Central Plateau area, the United Nations International Organization for Migration said this week. At least 76 others have been killed, according to Haiti's Office of Civil Protection. 'The crisis has disrupted public services and education,' Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters in New York. 'All schools in Mirebalais and Saut-d'Eau are closed, with more than 30 schools in neighboring communes being used as temporary shelters for displaced families.' Power cuts, disruptions to communications networks, and the ongoing presence of armed groups were all hampering response efforts, he said. But despite the challenges, U.N. aid agencies and their partners were scaling up the response to support those affected by the brutal violence including deploying mobile clinics to try and provide healthcare to reach 30,000 people in host communities and displacement camps. 'Our humanitarian colleagues note that protection needs are surging. Women, children and people with disabilities require urgent support, and signs of post-traumatic stress have been reported, particularly in the area of Boucan Carré,' Dujarric said about the neighboring town where the majority have fled. In less than four years, Haiti has seen the destruction and closure of dozens of hospitals and medical clinics as armed groups take over entire towns and set up encampments in places of worship, private homes and buildings that once saved lived. In January, when the Trump administration announced cuts to foreign aid, Mirebalais was still functioning and opening its doors to HIV/AIDS patients forced to find a new treatment after cuts forced some agencies dependent on the United States Agency for International Development, to close their doors. Now its beds are empty, all of its patients either sent home or transferred elsewhere including 10 hospitalized children, some of whom with Cerebral palsy and others abandoned, now being cared for by a partner organization. 'It's the biggest tragedy of my lifetime to see this shut down and taken over by a bunch of thugs,' Ford said. In a statement about the situation, Partners In Health noted that for the past decade, whenever someone has fallen sick or a disaster has struck Haiti, the University Hospital of Mirebalais 'has proudly stood as a place where anyone, no matter their background or income, could get access to the free, high-quality health care that they deserve.' 'The tenacity of our colleagues throughout this incredibly challenging period has been a beacon of hope for the people of Haiti and served as the physical manifestation of our organization's commitment to serving as an antidote to despair,' the statement said. At the time of the statement, the hospital had not been attacked. As of now, staff is still trying to assess its state, unable to safely access its grounds or any area south of the Rivière de Fer à Cheval, which is part of the main tributary of the Artibonite River, due to the heavy presence of heavily armed gang members. 'PIH began in Haiti, and our core values of solidarity and accompaniment emerged from our work with Haitian communities,' Dr. Shelia Davis, CEO of Partners In Health, said. 'No matter how daunting the challenges of this particular moment have seemed, our Haitian colleagues have never wavered or indulged in the luxury of pessimism, and I couldn't be more proud to say that our organization will continue to stand with the people of Haiti today, tomorrow, and long into the future.' Dr. Wesler Lambert, executive director of Zanmi Lasante as Partners In Health is known in Haiti, said clinical operations are continuing in other institutions in the network, where patients have been transferred, and staff reallocated. Both Lambert and Davis spoke of resuming activities in Mirebalais as soon as it is safe to do so. But when, is anyone's guest. Police have lost control of the city and the gunmen are now declaring themselves rulers of the region. They've seized control of at least one station, renamed it 'Taliban FM,' and now use it to spread their propaganda amid mounting fears the region's capital of Hinche, will soon be their next target. The escalating gang violence has left Haiti's health system on the brink of collapse, and Haitians with few options as they not only battle chronic illnesses but increase cases of sexual violence, hunger and malnutrition. Before its closure, the University Hospital of Mirebalais served nearly 850 patients a day, including providing maternal care and advanced cancer treatment. Two other hospitals in the area — St. Therese in Hinche and the 200-bed Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Artibonite — are now coming under increased strain and face critical shortages of oxygen, emergency medical kits and other supplies, Dujarric said on Wednesday. The two facilities have treated more than 200 patients for gunshot wounds, strokes, suspected cholera and malnutrition, since the Mirebalais hospital closure. St. Therese has received more than 3,500 internally displaced people —tripling its outpatient caseload. Albert Schweitzer, meanwhile, transformed its Cholera Treatment Center into a refuge for those fleeing the violence and after helping Mirebalais' doctors and nurses flee, provided meals and housing. In Port-au-Prince, where gunshot victims are dying due to a lack of blood supply and oxygen, less than 40% of hospitals are fully functionally, according to the U.N. Elsewhere, the access to healthcare is even more scarce as communities find themselves unable to get lifesaving medicines and supplies, or even a doctor due to gangs' control of roads. Earlier this month, Haitians lost access to two facilities in metropolitan Port-au-Prince run by the French medical charity, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. Citing the spiraling violence and what it described as an 'intentional' attack against its staff, the charity said it was closing an emergency center and a trauma hospital for three months. During that time, MSF says it plans to evaluate whether its staff can continue operating in such an environment after being targeted. This week, Higgins and others were grappling with another fallout of the health crisis and gang violence. One of his physicians, Dr. Jolius Thelusme, a urologist surgeon, found himself jailed in the Dominican Republic while trying to cross back into Haiti from northern Haiti where he was seeing patients in Cap-Haïtien. Because of the gangs control of Saut d'Eau, and other cities leading to Fond-Parisien where Thelusme lives and works, he could only access eastern Haiti via the Dominican Republic. But as he traveled through one immigration check point after another on a bus on Saturday, he was eventually arrested by Dominican immigration and placed in an iron box truck, despite presenting his passport and authorization to enter the country. He was taken to a detention center in Haina. After being confined to a crammed cell, Thelusme was eventually released on Tuesday but not before he was handcuffed and forced to have his photo taken before being handed over to an official of the Haitian embassy. Other Haitians, have not been as lucky. READ MORE: Aid cuts mean Haiti will need to do more to shoulder humanitarian response, UN says On Wednesday, Dominican authorities said they had deported 135 people, including children and dozens of women whom had just given birth and others still pregnant, back to Haiti as part of a crackdown on undocumented Haitians. The deportations are part of series of 15 new controversial measures President Luis Abinader announced would begin taking effect on Monday. Dominican police officers were deployed to over 30 hospitals and the government said 48 pregnant women, 39 new mothers and 48 minors were apprehended on the first day and taken to a detention center to be fingerprinted. They were later dropped off at the Elías Piña border crossing, which is in the same region as gang-controlled Mirebalais. 'Delivering healthcare in Haiti is nearly impossible with a lack of humanitarian corridors, particularly around the Port-au-Prince area, and difficult entry routes for medical supplies, medications, and equipment,' Higgins said. 'Now with the gangs destroying medical centers and medical facilities, trashing medical equipment, and turning the facilities into headquarters, there will soon be no delivery of healthcare in Haiti if this pattern continues.' 'The Haitians who remain and provide care for their people are all heroes,' he added. 'They know and are fearful of the gang warfare situation, but most healthcare providers stay with the hope that stability in Haiti somehow can be accomplished.'
Miami Herald
24-04-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
Gang attacks force closure of Haiti's ‘beacon of hope' hospital as health crisis grows
In a crisis-wracked nation where hospitals were hurting even before U.S. aid freezes earlier this year and gangs torched or gutted many medical facilities, the University Hospital of Mirebalais was among the last still standing. With solar-power, 300-plus beds and a network of U.S. doctors and experts in global health, the 205,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility provided free cancer care to women and children. It allowed renal patients in northern and central Haiti to access free dialysis treatments without risking their lives passing through gang controlled roads to Port-au-Prince. And it had boasting rights as the only place in the entire Caribbean where conjoined twins were ever separated. 'It was our beacon of hope,' said Dr. Henri Ford, the Haiti-born dean of the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, who in 2015 led a team of more than two dozen health professionals in separating the 6-months old girls, joined at the abdomen, inside the Mirebalais hospital's operating room. 'It really stood as a symbol of the Haitian potential; what we could realize as a nation if we came together and put our minds to it.' With billions of dollars promised, and never delivered, after the devastating 2010 earthquake, l'Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, as it is known in French, was also a promise met. The $24 million privately built, public facility in Haiti's Central Plateau opened its doors in April of 2013 and was the vision of the late Dr. Paul Farmer. A world-renowned global health champion and co-founder of Boston-based Partners In Health, Farmer devoted his career to bringing healthcare to Haiti's rural poor. Weeks after evacuating the facility, the hospital's executive management has now informed staff in an internal note that the doors will remain closed 'until further notice.' The team cited 'the worrying security situation prevailing in the city.' It's another Haitian city fallen into the hands of armed gangs and another health facility forced to shutter its doors, further reducing the dwindling healthcare options for millions of Haitians. 'There is no way to justify the needless destruction of these medical facilities by the gangs,' said Dr. Ted Higgins, a retired Kansas city vascular surgeon who built and runs the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope, east of Port-au-Prince in the town of Fond-Parisien near the border with the Dominican Republic. 'It is senseless and criminal but continues to occur as we watch from a distance.' An American missionary, who helps with a medical clinic near the city of Mirebalais, described to Higgins on Wednesday the aftermath of the gangs' attack in the city, 30 miles northeast of the capital and near another border crossing with the Dominican border. 'They removed the solar panels, broke into the church and clinic, and stole medications along with medical and dental equipment, including the new X-ray and sonogram machines,' the missionary said. 'Even sadder, we built homes for two families that were squatting on the property when we purchased it years ago, they burned their homes. The area is under their control,' she went on to say, adding that the facility is now a gang headquarters. One church member who managed to escape to the nearby town of Cange, where Farmer first began his work in Haiti with a clinic before opening a network of medical centers, is now considering returning, the missionary added, because the woman believes it is only a matter of time before the armed groups attack Cange and she doesn't want to be there for the initial violence. 'At least,' the woman has rationalized about her return to Mirebalais even while being overrun by gangs, 'she will have a roof and food they give out from time to time.' Gangs force out thousands in central Haiti The attacks were launched by two gangs, 400 Mawozo and the Canaan gang, which also refers to itself as 'Taliban.' Both are part of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, which now controls up to 90% of metropolitan Port-au-Prince and on Wednesday killed several members of a self-defense brigade in an attempt to gain control of two new capital neighborhoods. After storming Mirebalais on March 31 and attacking the police station, gangs released more than 500 prisoners from the local prison. They then targeted the rural town of Saut d'Eau, which lies at the crossroads of the Central Plateau where Mirebalais is located and the West region where Port-au-Prince is situated. READ MORE: Cervical cancer is treatable. Why are women in Haiti still dying from it? More than 51,400 Haitians have been internally displaced in the Central Plateau area, the United Nations International Organization for Migration said this week. At least 76 others have been killed, according to Haiti's Office of Civil Protection. 'The crisis has disrupted public services and education,' Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary General António Guterres told reporters in New York. 'All schools in Mirebalais and Saut-d'Eau are closed, with more than 30 schools in neighboring communes being used as temporary shelters for displaced families. ' Power cuts, disruptions to communications networks, and the ongoing presence of armed groups were all hampering response efforts, he said. But despite the challenges, U.N. aid agencies and their partners were scaling up the response to support those affected by the brutal violence. 'Our humanitarian colleagues note that protection needs are surging. Women, children and people with disabilities require urgent support, and signs of post-traumatic stress have been reported, particularly in the area of Boucan Carré,' Dujarric said about the neighboring town where the majority have fled. Dozens of hospitals, clinics shuttered In less than four years, Haiti has seen the destruction and closure of dozens of hospitals and medical clinics as armed groups take over entire towns and set up encampments in places of worship, private homes and buildings that once saved lived. In January, when the Trump administration announced cuts to foreign aid, Mirebalais was still functioning and opening its doors to HIV/AIDS patients forced to find a new treatment after cuts forced some agencies dependent on the United States Agency for International Development, to close their doors. Now its beds are empty, all of its patients either sent home or transferred elsewhere including 10 hospitalized children, some of whom with Cerebral palsy and others abandoned, now being cared for by a partner organization. 'It's the biggest tragedy of my lifetime to see this shut down and taken over by a bunch of thugs,' Ford said. In a statement about the situation, Partners In Health noted that for the past decade, whenever someone has fallen sick or a disaster has struck Haiti, the University Hospital of Mirebalais 'has proudly stood as a place where anyone, no matter their background or income, could get access to the free, high-quality health care that they deserve.' 'The tenacity of our colleagues throughout this incredibly challenging period has been a beacon of hope for the people of Haiti and served as the physical manifestation of our organization's commitment to serving as an antidote to despair,' the statement said. At the time of the statement, the hospital had not been attacked. As of now, staff is still trying to assess its state, unable to safely access its grounds or any area south of the Rivière de Fer à Cheval, which is part of the main tributary of the Artibonite River, due to the heavy presence of heavily armed gang members. 'PIH began in Haiti, and our core values of solidarity and accompaniment emerged from our work with Haitian communities,' Dr. Shelia Davis, CEO of Partners In Health, said. 'No matter how daunting the challenges of this particular moment have seemed, our Haitian colleagues have never wavered or indulged in the luxury of pessimism, and I couldn't be more proud to say that our organization will continue to stand with the people of Haiti today, tomorrow, and long into the future.' Dr. Wesler Lambert, executive director of Zanmi Lasante as Partners In Health is known in Haiti, said clinical operations are continuing in other institutions in the network, where patients have been transferred, and staff reallocated. Both Lambert and Davis spoke of resuming activities in Mirebalais as soon as it is safe to do so. But when, is anyone's guest. Police have lost control of the city and the gunmen are now declaring themselves rulers of the region. They've seized control of at least one station, renamed it 'Taliban FM,' and now use it to spread their propaganda amid mounting fears the region's capital of Hinche, will soon be their next target. The escalating gang violence has left Haiti's health system on the brink of collapse, and Haitians with few options as they not only battle chronic illnesses but increase cases of sexual violence, hunger and malnutrition. In Port-au-Prince, where gunshot victims are dying due to a lack of blood supply and oxygen, less than 40% of hospitals are fully functionally, according to the U.N. Elsewhere, the access to healthcare is even more scarce as communities find themselves unable to get lifesaving medicines and supplies, or even a doctor due to gangs' control of roads. Earlier this month, Haitians lost access to two facilities in metropolitan Port-au-Prince run by the French medical charity, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. Citing the spiraling violence and what it described as an 'intentional' attack against its staff, the charity said it was closing an emergency center and a trauma hospital for three months to evaluate whether they can continue operating in such an environment after being targeted. Dominican immigration crackdown This week, Higgins and others were grappling with another fallout of the health crisis and gang violence. One of his physicians, Dr. Jolius Thelusme, a urologist surgeon, found himself jailed in the Dominican Republic while trying to cross back into Haiti from northern Haiti where he was seeing patients in Cap-Haïtien. Because of the gangs control of Saut d'Eau, and other cities leading to Fond-Parisien where Thelusme lives and works, he could only access eastern Haiti via the Dominican Republic. But as he traveled through one immigration check point after another on a bus on Saturday, he was eventually arrested by Dominican immigration and placed in an iron box truck, despite presenting his passport and authorization to enter the country. He was taken to a detention center in Haina. After being confined to a crammed cell, Thelusme was eventually released on Tuesday but not before he was handcuffed and forced to have his photo taken before being handed over to an official of the Haitian embassy. Other Haitians, have not been as lucky. On Wednesday, Dominican authorities said they had deported 135 people, including children and dozens of women whom had just given birth and others still pregnant, back to Haiti as part of a crackdown on undocumented Haitians. The deportations are part of series of 15 new controversial measures President Luis Abinader announced would begin taking effect on Monday. Dominican police officers were deployed to over 30 hospitals and the government said 48 pregnant women, 39 new mothers and 48 minors were apprehended on the first day and taken to a detention center to be fingerprinted. They were later dropped off at the Elías Piña border crossing, which is in the same region as gang-controlled Mirebalais. 'Delivering healthcare in Haiti is nearly impossible with a lack of humanitarian corridors, particularly around the Port-au-Prince area, and difficult entry routes for medical supplies, medications, and equipment,' Higgins said. 'Now with the gangs destroying medical centers and medical facilities, trashing medical equipment, and turning the facilities into headquarters, there will soon be no delivery of healthcare in Haiti if this pattern continues.' 'The Haitians who remain and provide care for their people are all heroes,' he added. 'They know and are fearful of the gang warfare situation, but most healthcare providers stay with the hope that stability in Haiti somehow can be accomplished.'
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Haiti's volatile capital is in a free fall. Here's what its collapse could look like
For months, Haiti's criminal gangs have been pushing the country's capital further into chaos, forcing the shutdown of public offices and schools and sending tens of thousands of people under a hail of gunfire into soiled makeshift camps with no potable water, no latrines and no hope. Avenue John Brown, one of three main roads that connect downtown Port-au-Prince to affluent Pétion-Ville, was once a scene of teeming street merchants and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Now, its lower reaches have been transformed into heaps of destruction as residents and businesses flee the historical downtown area, and police try to resist the onslaught of the heavily armed gunmen. The situation is critical in downtown Port-au-Prince, where gangs have been fighting to secure control over the neighborhoods of Canapé-Vert and Pacot. Control of the residential communities and others nearby would put gangs within reach of Pétion-Ville and allow them to further control the region's key resources. From Carrefour Feuilles and Christ-Roi to Nazon and Delmas, Haiti's most powerful warlords have been circling. They've divided the capital, each taking a corner as part of their recent territorial gains — Izo, Ti Lapli in the south; Chen Mechan and Jeff Canaan in the north, Lanmo SanJou and Vitel'homme in the east. Members of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, all have been closing the gap ever since an attack in the once peaceful mountainside of Kenscoff in late January created a security lapse that left key Port-au-Prince neighborhoods unprotected and vulnerable to attack. With dozens of roads, including many leading to the main international airport, now in gang territory, the encircling of the capital is leaving just one question: How long can Haiti's ill-equipped national police and small military, along with the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, resist the siege before Port-au-Prince or Pétion-Ville collapses? Compounding the problem, the Trump administration, which has an ongoing ban on U.S. flights landing in the capital, is canceling immigration protections and work permits as of Tuesday for over 200,000 Haitians in the U.S. and asking them to self-deport home. 'The situation is full of uncertainties, but morbid symptoms are everywhere,' said Robert Fatton, a retired Haiti-born professor of political science and longtime watcher of his country's cycle of crises. 'This is a calamity. From abroad it looks like the country is simply falling into the abyss, but I am not sure what Haitians in Haiti will or can do to stop this fall.' The pivotal moment, several police officers told the Miami Herald, came when police failed to heed the warnings of a pending attack on Kenscoff, and police responded by redeploying five armored vehicles from downtown up the hillside to reinforce the area's rural hamlets. The vehicles had been strategically stationed to prevent the neighborhoods from falling into gang hands. The removal of the vehicles, coupled with the loss of three additional armored vehicles, created the opening that has allowed gangs in recent weeks to launch simultaneous attacks and control access in and out of the metropolitan area. Now gangs have seized control of the last open road through the mountains to the south, the southeast, Nippes and Grand-Anse, trapping the capital's four million people, and are moving closer to Pétion-Ville. On Monday, residents in nearby Laboule, Thomassin and communities around Kenscoff issued calls for help, saying gangs were circling and demanding passage to go after the 'bourgeoisie.' 'A bunch of children are burning people's homes,' a voice message shared on WhatsApp said. 'We are sounding the alarm; the population in the mountains can't take it anymore.' The gangs' recent expansion into the mountains and in areas such as Nazon and Delmas 30, which puts them within striking distance of the headquarters of one of the country's biggest banks, along with Delmas 19, located less than a mile from the government-owned Radio Television Nationale d'Haiti, has rich and poor alike afraid. Any further expansion into Delmas, for example, could lead to a closure of the airspace because air traffic controllers and airport employees would no longer be able to safely commute to work. This is not the first time Port-au-Prince has been on the brink of falling into the hands of Viv Ansanm. But it's the closest it's been. Last year as gang leaders united under the Viv Ansanm banner and launched simultaneous attacks across the capital in effort to bring down the government, the U.S. and the Caribbean Community intervened. They forced the ouster of the prime minister and helped Haitians put in place a new transition to restore security and pave the way to elections. A year later, neither has occurred. The transition has been marred by ongoing disagreements, political tensions, infighting and what security experts describe as a lack of a cohesive strategy for fighting the gangs. Today, areas once considered safe two months ago are now empty or blocked by barricades. Joint operations between the Kenya-led force and police have forced gang members to retreat in some areas. But security analysts are warning that without long-term police presence, gangs may reoccupy vacated areas. Last month, a government task force began dropping explosive drones in gangs' strongholds. But the attacks haven't neutralized the gangs. 'As armed groups expand their control, government institutions have retreated, leaving critical infrastructure unprotected,' Halo Solutions Firm, a security company in the capital, said in its most recent weekly report and analysis on the evolving crisis. 'More than 50 official buildings, including ministries, courts, port facilities, schools, and other strategic institutions, have been vacated, signaling a significant decline in state authority over the capital.' This is most noticeable around the Champ-de-Mars, the public square across from the presidential palace and defense ministry. Last week government offices in the area were told to remove computers and other valuables. Elsewhere, banks and private firms were frantically making calls trying to relocate to houses and hotel rooms in Petion-Ville. So what would the fall of Port-au-Prince look like? Most experts in and out of Haiti say the embattled nine-member Transitional Presidential Council would no longer be able to function, and the gangs would take over the symbols of power. These include the offices of the country's beleaguered transitional authorities and the National Palace, and Pétion-Ville either on the verge of collapse or invaded by armed groups. 'A clear sign would be the closing of the American embassy and the departure of the presidential council and prime minister,' said Fatton. The fighting has already temporarily shuttered the doors of the French embassy, and is moving closer to Canada's embassy in Delmas 75. The violence also is but a few miles from the Villa d'Accueil in Musseau, where the offices of the ruling council are located. The presidential council, already weakened and with its claim to legitimacy dwindling, would certainly lose power in a collapse. Can it become a government in exile if it functions from Cap-Haïtien, the northern port city where the staff of some international institutions have been fleeing? 'What will the U.S. do? It does not look like Washington has a plan. Perhaps negotiations may occur between the presidential council and the gangs to avoid a bloodbath,' Fatton said. The United States appears to have no current no Haiti policy. The Dominican Republic, Haiti's closest neighbor, has reinforced its land border with its military and recently designated more than a dozen Haitian gangs as 'terrorist organizations.' The move has raised concerns about whether Haiti's neighbor would deploy troops on Haitian soil if there's a takeover of the country by the gangs.
Miami Herald
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Haiti's volatile capital is in a free fall. Here's what its collapse could look like
For months, Haiti's criminal gangs have been pushing the country's capital further into chaos, forcing the shutdown of public offices and schools and sending tens of thousands of people under a hail of gunfire into soiled makeshift camps with no potable water, no latrines and no hope. Avenue John Brown, one of three main roads that connect downtown Port-au-Prince to affluent Pétion-Ville, was once a scene of teeming street merchants and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Now, its lower reaches have been transformed into heaps of destruction as residents and businesses flee the historical downtown area, and police try to resist the onslaught of the heavily armed gunmen. The situation is critical in downtown Port-au-Prince, where gangs have been fighting to secure control over the neighborhoods of Canapé-Vert and Pacot. Control of the residential communities and others nearby would put gangs within reach of Pétion-Ville and allow them to further control the region's key resources. From Carrefour Feuilles and Christ-Roi to Nazon and Delmas, Haiti's most powerful warlords have been circling. They've divided the capital, each taking a corner as part of their recent territorial gains — Izo, Ti Lapli in the south; Chen Mechan and Jeff Canaan in the north, Lanmo SanJou and Vitel'homme in the east. Members of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, all have been closing the gap ever since an attack in the once peaceful mountainside of Kenscoff in late January created a security lapse that left key Port-au-Prince neighborhoods unprotected and vulnerable to attack. With dozens of roads, including many leading to the main international airport, now in gang territory, the encircling of the capital is leaving just one question: How long can Haiti's ill-equipped national police and small military, along with the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, resist the siege before Port-au-Prince or Pétion-Ville collapses? Compounding the problem, the Trump administration, which has an ongoing ban on U.S. flights landing in the capital, is canceling immigration protections and work permits as of Tuesday for over 200,000 Haitians in the U.S. and asking them to self-deport home. 'The situation is full of uncertainties, but morbid symptoms are everywhere,' said Robert Fatton, a retired Haiti-born professor of political science and longtime watcher of his country's cycle of crises. 'This is a calamity. From abroad it looks like the country is simply falling into the abyss, but I am not sure what Haitians in Haiti will or can do to stop this fall.' The pivotal moment, several police officers told the Miami Herald, came when police failed to heed the warnings of a pending attack on Kenscoff, and police responded by redeploying five armored vehicles from downtown up the hillside to reinforce the area's rural hamlets. The vehicles had been strategically stationed to prevent the neighborhoods from falling into gang hands. The removal of the vehicles, coupled with the loss of three additional armored vehicles, created the opening that has allowed gangs in recent weeks to launch simultaneous attacks and control access in and out of the metropolitan area. Now gangs have seized control of the last open road through the mountains to the south, the southeast, Nippes and Grand-Anse, trapping the capital's four million people, and are moving closer to Pétion-Ville. The gangs' recent expansion into Nazon and Delmas 30, which puts them within striking distance of the headquarters of one of the country's biggest banks, along with Delmas 19, located less than a mile from the government-owned Radio Television Nationale d'Haiti, is also causing alarms. Any further expansion into Delmas, for example, could lead to a closure of the airspace because air traffic controllers and airport employees would no longer be able to safely commute to work. This is not the first time Port-au-Prince has been on the brink of falling into the hands of Viv Ansanm. But it's the closest it's been. Last year as gang leaders united under the Viv Ansanm banner and launched simultaneous attacks across the capital in effort to bring down the government, the U.S. and the Caribbean Community intervened. They forced the ouster of the prime minister and helped Haitians put in place a new transition to restore security and pave the way to elections. A year later, neither has occurred. The transition has been marred by ongoing disagreements, political tensions, infighting and what security experts describe as a lack of a cohesive strategy for fighting the gangs. Today, areas once considered safe two months ago are now empty or blocked by barricades. Joint operations between the Kenya-led force and police have forced gang members to retreat in some areas. But security analysts are warning that without long-term police presence, gangs may reoccupy vacated areas. Last month, a government task force began dropping explosive drones in gangs' strongholds. But the attacks haven't neutralized the gangs. 'As armed groups expand their control, government institutions have retreated, leaving critical infrastructure unprotected,' Halo Solutions Firm S.A., said in its most recent weekly report on Haiti's security situation. 'More than 50 official buildings, including ministries, courts, port facilities, schools, and other strategic institutions, have been vacated, signaling a significant decline in state authority over the capital.' This is most noticeable around the Champ-de-Mars, the public square across from the presidential palace and defense ministry. Last week government offices in the area were told to remove computers and other valuables. Elsewhere, banks and private firms were frantically making calls trying to relocate to houses and hotel rooms in Petion-Ville. What the fall of the capital would mean So what would the fall of Port-au-Prince look like? Most experts in and out of Haiti say the embattled nine-member Transitional Presidential Council would no longer be able to function, and the gangs would take over the symbols of power. These include the offices of the country's beleaguered transitional authorities and the National Palace, and Pétion-Ville either on the verge of collapse or invaded by armed groups. 'A clear sign would be the closing of the American embassy and the departure of the presidential council and prime minister,' said Fatton. The fighting has already temporarily shuttered the doors of the French embassy, and is moving closer to Canada's embassy in Delmas 75. The violence also is but a few miles from the Villa d'Accueil in Musseau, where the offices of the ruling council are located. The presidential council, already weakened and with its claim to legitimacy dwindling, would certainly lose power in a collapse. Can it become a government in exile if it functions from Cap-Haïtien, the northern port city where the staff of some international institutions have been fleeing? 'What will the U.S. do? It does not look like Washington has a plan. Perhaps negotiations may occur between the presidential council and the gangs to avoid a bloodbath,' Fatton said. The United States appears to have no current no Haiti policy. The Dominican Republic, Haiti's closest neighbor, has reinforced its land border with its military and recently designated more than a dozen Haitian gangs as 'terrorist organizations.' The move has raised concerns about whether Haiti's neighbor would deploy troops on Haitian soil if there's a takeover of the country by the gangs.
