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09-03-2024
PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti’s main port says it is suspending operations due to sabotage and vandalism as the capital city descends further into violence and chaos.
Local media report that armed men broke into the port in capital Port-au-Prince, looting containers.
It follows attacks by gangs on the airport, police stations and prisons this week. They are pushing for Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s removal.
A three-day state of emergency has now been extended by a month.
Caribbean Port Services, the operator of the port, cited “malicious acts of sabotage and vandalism” as it announced the decision to suspend all services.
More than 20 trucks carrying vital equipment, medical supplies and food are stuck at the port, according to the UN’s World Food Program, which said it had suspended its maritime transport service, citing “insecurity”.
The UN humanitarian affairs agency has warned that the country’s health system is “nearing collapse”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Henry to ask for an “urgent” political transition, a senior US official said.
Blinken spoke with the Haitian prime minister about “the urgent need to accelerate transition to a broader, more inclusive government today,” Brian Nichols, US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said at an event on Thursday.
The gangs in the violence-wracked city stepped up their attacks when Henry left for a regional summit last week.
Henry attempted to fly back to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday but ended up in the US territory of Puerto Rico instead.
He could not land in the Haitian capital because its international airport was closed as soldiers repelled attempts by gunmen to seize it.
Civil aviation authorities in the neighboring Dominican Republic also turned the prime minister’s plane away, saying that they had not been provided with the necessary flight plan.
Henry has not given any public statements since he visited Kenya, where he met President William Ruto to salvage a deal for the east African country to lead a multi-national force to help restore order in Haiti.
The two leaders signed a reciprocal agreement which paves the way for 2,000 Kenyan police officers to be sent to Haiti but a Kenyan opposition politician says he will challenge the deal in court.
Meanwhile, several Kenyan police officers who had volunteered for the deployment have opted out for their safety.
Gangs in Port-au-Prince have taken advantage of Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s absence to unleash a series of coordinated attacks.
Among their targets was the airport – which they want to control to prevent Henry from flying back in and two prisons, from which they freed thousands of inmates. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
