Haiti Declares State Of Emergency After Gangs Storm Prisons, Police Stations

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The government of Haiti on Sunday declared a “renewable” 72-hour state of emergency after armed gangs stormed three police stations and two prisons , freeing 3,700 prisoners and leading to the deaths of 12 people. The government added that the gangs’ acts of “disobedience” were a threat to national security.

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the 11 million-strong Caribbean nation of Haiti has been wracked with extreme political instability, rampant, insidious gang violence, and natural disasters for decades. Most recently, the country has suffered violent unrest since the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The New York Times has reported that Moïse’s assassination may have been connected to his efforts to restrict narcotics trafficking and plans to expose the involvement of high-ranking Haitian officials involved in the Haitian drug trade.

Sunday’s emergency was triggered by Gang leaders who want to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was traveling abroad at the time. Gang leader and former police officer Jimmy Chérizier said in a statement: “All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united.” Gangs now control around 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.

Of the two prisons stormed, one was a major jail in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and the other was in neighboring Croix des Bouquets, BBC News reported.

In a statement the Haitian government said Sunday that, in order to restore order, it had imposed an immediate renewable 72-hour curfew throughout the West territory. “[The curfew will apply] between six in the evening and five in the morning on Monday 4, Tuesday 5, Wednesday 6 and this Sunday, March 3 2024,” the government said.

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