The U.S. military said Sunday it had sent forces to tighten security at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and allow nonessential personnel to leave.
The aircraft flew towards the embassy compound, US Southern Command said, meaning the operation involved helicopters. He was careful to point out that “there were no Haitians on board the military plane.” This appeared aimed at quelling any speculation that senior government officials might leave as gang attacks in Haiti worsened.
The neighborhood around the embassy in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is largely controlled by criminal gangs.
“This airlift of personnel in and out of the embassy is consistent with our standard practice for enhancing the security of embassies around the world, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft,” according to the Southcom statement.
In many cases, non-essential staff may include diplomats’ families, but the embassy had already ordered the departure of non-essential staff and all family members in July. The staff ferried out of the embassy may have simply gone off duty, to be refreshed by new staff.
Sunday’s statement said the United States remains focused on helping Haitian police and organizing some sort of U.N.-sanctioned security deployment. But these efforts have so far been unsuccessful.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry recently traveled to Kenya to push for the East African country’s United Nations-backed deployment of police forces to fight gangs. But in January a Kenyan court ruled that such a deployment would be unconstitutional.
Henry, who is facing calls to resign or form a transition council, cannot return home. He arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday after he failed to land in the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti.
On Saturday, Dominican President Luis Abinader’s office released a statement saying that “Henry is not welcome in the Dominican Republic for security reasons.” The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has closed its land border.
“Given the current situation, the presence of the Haitian Prime Minister in the Dominican Republic is not considered appropriate,” the statement read, adding that “this decision reflects the strong position of the Dominican government in safeguarding its national security and stability.”
The statement describes the security situation in Haiti as “totally unsustainable” and says it “represents a direct threat to the security and stability of the Dominican Republic.”
The statement predicts that “the situation could worsen further if a peacekeeping force is not urgently deployed to restore order.”
Caribbean leaders called for an emergency meeting Monday in Jamaica over what they called the “terrible” situation in Haiti. They invited the United States, France, Canada, the United Nations and Brazil to the meeting.
Members of the regional trading bloc Caricom have been trying for months to convince Haiti’s political players to agree to form a transitional unity government.
Caricom said on Friday that while regional leaders remain deeply engaged in trying to bring together opposition parties and civil society groups to form a unity government, “the stakeholders are not yet where they should be.”
“We are acutely aware of the urgent need to reach consensus,” the statement read. “We have made it clear to the respective parties that time is not on their side in agreeing the way forward. From our reports, the situation on the ground remains dire and is of grave concern to us.”
In February, Henry agreed to hold a general election by mid-2025, and the international community has been trying to find foreign militaries willing to fight local gang violence.
Meanwhile, Caricom has also pushed Henry to announce a consensus-based, power-sharing government, but the prime minister has yet to do so, even as Haitian opposition parties and civil society groups call for his resignation.
Henry, a neurosurgeon, was appointed prime minister of Haiti following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021.
It was unclear whether Henry would be in Jamaica for the Caricom meeting.
In Port-au-Prince, meanwhile, police and palace guards worked Saturday to retake some streets of the capital after gangs launched major attacks on at least three police stations.
National Palace guards accompanied by an armored truck tried to set up a security perimeter around one of three downtown stations after police repelled a gang attack on Friday evening.
Sporadic gunfire continued Saturday and a woman writhed in pain on the sidewalk in central Port-au-Prince with a gunshot wound after a stray bullet hit her in the leg.
Incessant gang attacks have paralyzed the country for more than a week and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Haitian authorities extended a state of emergency and nighttime curfew on Thursday as gangs continued to attack key state institutions.
But average Haitians, many of whom have been forced from their homes by bloody street fighting, can’t wait. The problem for police in securing government buildings is that many Haitians have flocked there seeking refuge.
“We are the ones who pay taxes and we need shelter,” said one woman, who did not give her name for security reasons.
Another Port-au-Prince resident, who did not give his name, described Friday’s attacks.
“They (the gangs) came with heavy weapons. We have no weapons and cannot defend ourselves. All of us, the children, are suffering,” the man said.