Police and Palace Guards worked Saturday to retake some streets in Haiti’s capital after gangs launched major attacks on at least three police stations.
National Palace guards accompanied by armored trucks attempted to set up a security perimeter around one of three downtown stations after police repelled an attack by the gang late Friday.
Sporadic shootings continued to be reported Saturday. Relentless gang attacks have paralyzed the country for more than a week and reduced supplies of essential goods. Haitian authorities on Thursday extended a state of emergency and curfew as gangs continue to attack key state institutions.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who is also the acting president, was in Kenya when the gang violence began on February 29 and has not been able to return to Port-au-Prince. Earlier this week, the United States called on him to facilitate a political transition as armed groups called for his ouster.
Caribbean leaders late Friday called for an emergency meeting in Jamaica on Monday over the “dire” situation in Haiti. They invited the United States, France, Canada, the United Nations, and Brazil to the meeting.
Members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) regional trading bloc have been trying for months to get Haiti’s political actors to agree to form an inclusive transitional unity government.
Many Haitians have been forced from their homes by bloody urban fighting and are now taking shelter in government buildings.
So far, attempts to broker a solution have been unsuccessful. “The situation on the ground remains dire,” Caricom, a group of 15 Caribbean countries, said in a statement late Friday.
CARICOM’s statement said that while regional leaders remain committed to efforts to bring together opposition parties and civil society groups to form a unity government, “stakeholders are not yet where they need to be.” Ta.
“We are acutely aware of the urgent need to reach an agreement,” the statement said. “We have impressed upon the parties that time is not on their side when it comes to agreeing on a future direction.”
In February, Prime Minister Henry agreed to hold general elections by mid-2025, and the international community is trying to find foreign troops willing to fight gang violence on the ground.
CARICOM has also urged Henry to announce a power-sharing consensus government in the meantime, but the prime minister has yet to do so despite Haiti’s opposition parties and civil society calling for his resignation.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto about the Haiti crisis, and the two emphasized their commitment to the multinational security mission to restore order, the State Department announced Saturday. Kenya announced last year that it would lead the force, but months of internal legal wrangling have effectively put the mission on hold.
Henry traveled to Kenya to promote the deployment of UN-backed police from the East African country to fight Haitian gangs. However, a Kenyan court ruled in January that such deployments were unconstitutional.
Henry still cannot go home. He arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday after being unable to land in the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti.
The office of Dominican President Luis Abinader issued a statement on Saturday saying, “For security reasons, Henry is not welcome in the Dominican Republic.” The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has closed its land border.
The statement described the security situation in Haiti as “completely unsustainable” and said it “poses a direct threat to the security and stability of the Dominican Republic.”
“The situation is likely to worsen further unless peacekeeping forces are urgently deployed to restore order,” the statement predicted.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
