DORAL, Fla. – As Haitian gang violence runs rampant, the U.S. military airlifted personnel in and out of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Southern Command reported on Sunday at the request of the U.S. State Department.
No Haitians were on board the U.S. military aircraft, according to the U.S. Southern Command’s statement adding that the U.S. was focused on “accelerating a peaceful transition of power via free and fair elections.”
The U.S. was also prioritizing the deployment of the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support, or MSS mission, in support of the Haitian National Police, according to the command.
Haitian authorities reported the Toussaint Louverture International Airport remained closed and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been in Puerto Rico since Tuesday.
Henry was in Kenya when Haitians started to report gang attacks on Feb. 29 and he was in Guyana when he agreed to hold general elections in 2025.
Radio Caraïbes reported Guy Philippe and Moïse Jean Charles signed a deal to form a council to replace Henry, a 74-year-old French-trained neurosurgeon who succeeded slain President Jovenel Moïse.
Philippe, 56, is a former police chief and senator who helped to overthrow Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He returned to Haiti in November after his deportation and release from a U.S. federal prison.
Philippe, who has presidential ambitions, was convicted in the U.S. of money laundering derived from drug trafficking and served about six years in prison.
“Mandela was in prison, Hugo Chavez was in prison, Lula was in prison ... and so if my people believe and trust me, I will be their leader,” Philippe recently told Reuters.
Henry’s officials declared a state of emergency on March 4 and extended it on Thursday. The National Palace was the focus of attacks on Friday night, The Associated Press reported.
Displaced Haitians and prison outbreaks prompted the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Dominican Republic military to set up blockades.
“Henry is not welcome in the Dominican Republic for safety reasons,” Dominican President Luis Abinader said in a statement on Saturday.
Members of the Caribbean Community and Common Market, or CARICOM, plan to meet on Monday in Kingston, Jamaica to discuss their response to the situation in Haiti.
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