PORT-AU-PRINCE — A group of armed gangs attempted to take over Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport on Monday, launching an armed attack against the facility just days after a series of coordinated attacks across the capital led to the escape of thousands of jailed prisoners, including several notorious gang leaders.
The attack against the airport came amid a suspension of all international flights into Haiti by U.S.-based carriers, citing the ongoing civil unrest. Despite the cancellations, the airport had remained under heavy guard, with members of the country’s armed forces deployed inside, while Haiti National Police officers and soldiers patrolled the outskirts. Last week, gangs opened fire on the airport, striking three domestic aircraft parked at both the international airport and the neighboring Guy Malary national airport.
Monday’s firefight broke out around 1 p.m. after gunmen opened fire from several directions and attempted to breach the facility by creating a hole in a wall. They were immediately met with heavy gunfire from the police, who were also accompanied by members of the Armed Forces of Haiti. Two days earlier, Haiti had deployed its armed forces to help police beef up security at both the airport and the seaport. Both locations had been targeted after gangs began launching violent attacks Thursday against several police substations in a bid to seize control of key government installations. Soldiers were also deployed to patrol the vicinity of the National Palace.
On Monday, the United States, the United Nations and the Organization of American States condemned the attacks, which led to the embassies of France, Canada and the U.S. to suspend consular services.
Many of those responsible for the violence have already been sanctioned by the United States and other countries, a State Department spokesperson said. “These actions make it clear why.” GANGS IN CHARGE Gangs control more than 80% of Port-au-Prince and in recent days they’ve grown even more powerful. Their coordinated violent attacks have overwhelmed and outgunned the Haiti National Police, which has struggled to respond to the surge. The police force, which had roughly 9,000 officers on public safety duty at any given time last year, has been shrinking at an alarming rate, according to the United Nations. The U. N. has said that the police force lost more than 1,600 officers last year. Some were killed by gang members, while others migrated to the U.S. after the Biden administration launched a two-year humanitarian parole program for nationals of Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
In October, the U.N. Security Council approved the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission, led by Kenya, to Haiti. But the armed forced has struggled to get off the ground due to legal issues in Kenya and a lack of funding from international partners. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been out of the country during the violence, was in Kenya last week to sign a reciprocal agreement to allow Kenya to deploy 1,000 of its police officers to Haiti. The Kenyan police are supposed to be the backbone of the armed mission.
The State Department spokesperson said the U.S. is actively planning for the international mission to assist the Haiti National Police battle gangs. Both U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and OAS General Secretary Luis Almagro are calling on the international community to do more. On Monday Guterres reiterated the need for urgent action, particularly in providing financial support for the mission. Almagro, meanwhile, criticized the delay in the international community’s response to come to Haiti’s aid. “It is more necessary than ever to promote cooperative efforts within the United Nations to restore security in the country. It is irresponsible that necessary measures and actions continue to be delayed,” Almagro said.
The delay in the international community’s response is raising fears of a total collapse of the Haitian government. The gangs reportedly control all of the lower part of downtown Port-au-Prince, which has led to judges being fearful to step out of their homes since the prison break to confirm deaths and other crimes. “We’re fast approaching a tipping point where the Pentagon has to dust off its contingency plans and get a limited force to Port-au-Prince to prevent total state failure. It can be a short-term deployment with a quick handover to an international force,” said James B. Foley, a retired U.S. ambassador who was stationed in Haiti. “The bottom line is that the United States simply cannot tolerate anarchy on its doorstep.”
For years, Haiti’s armed forces have been trying to enter the battle against gangs but had to accept being sidelined because of U.S. policy. The U.S. publicly opposed the reinstatement of the army after supporting its disbandment after a 1991 military coup under the Lieutenant General Raoul Cedras overthrew the country’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The policy has made Haiti’s financial donors uneasy with providing funding or weapons, even as they privately admit that the country needed to have a second security force to stem the tide of gang violation.
Further complicating matters has been a U.S. arms embargo, which has made it difficult for even the country’s national police to acquire weapons and ammunition. A case in point: Following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse the government sought to outfit the armed forces with weapons but U.S. authorities blocked the move. A source said that the army recently managed to acquire several hundred weapons, though not all were long-guns or heavy artillery. For now, neither the Haitian government nor army officials will say how many soldiers have been deployed or what kind of equipment the force has been given. But it has found support in many corners. “I wish the police could do the job, but look at what we are facing with these gangs? The police was not built for this,” said Jean Dorneval, who served as Haiti defense minister before the assassination of Moïse.
“We need an army to stabilize the country. The police can always exist but…the world has completely changed,” he said. “For me, this is non-negotiable for Haiti.” The deployment of the army comes amid a 72-hour state of emergency and curfew, both of which were imposed by the government late Sunday. It also comes as Haitians remain on edge about whether the gangs, which have threatened to depose Henry and now have expanded their ranks with escaped gang leaders, will continue their destabilization efforts. The firefight at the airport came as an eerie calm covered the capital as the country braced for the return of Henry from Kenya.
After rumors circulated earlier in the day that he would be landing at the international airport in Cap-Haïtien, panic ensued. Businesses closed and police patrols increased. Workers at the airport were also subjected to slurs from passing motorists shouting through megaphones.
By JACQUELINE CHARLES/Miami Herald
McClatchy Chief Washington Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed reporting.
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.