Crime & Justice

Heavy gunfire is heard around the National Palace in the Haitian capital

Port-au-Prince, Mar 8 (EFE).- The area around the National Palace in the Haitian capital was the scene of intense gunfire Friday night, EFE was able to verify.

The shots were heard around the National Palace, in a wide area that goes from Champ de Mars to Nazon, Lalue, Canape-Vert and Turgeau, in the heart of Port-au-Prince.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry is still in Puerto Rico and is under increasing pressure for a transfer of power, with demonstrations at home demanding his resignation and international calls for him to step down.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) announced on Friday that it would hold a special meeting in the Jamaican capital on Monday, in which the United Nations and other international actors will also participate.

According to senior UN sources, Caricom’s only message to Henry will be to request his resignation.

According to a 2022 political agreement, Henry’s term should have expired on Feb. 7, but the prime minister remains in power and has talked of delaying elections until August 2025, sparking the recent violence, which the gangs have called a “rebellion” against him.

Most of the violence in the past week has been targeted at symbols of the state, such as government buildings, prisons and the international airport.

The powerful leader of the G9 gang, ex-cop Jimmy Cherisier, also known as Barbecue, has threatened “civil war” and “genocide” if Henry doesn’t step down.

In Port-au-Prince, on Thursday, dozens took to the streets in a demonstration called by the Pitit Dessalines political party, led by former senator Moise Jean Charles, to demand Henry’s resignation.

The protest was dispersed by police, as protests are banned under the current state of emergency.

Meanwhile, neighboring countries are concerned about the influx of Haitians into their territories.

Jamaica’s Minister of National Security, Horace Chang, told parliament on Thursday that Jamaica “cannot afford a flood of refugees” and would only allow the arrival of “the orphans in an orphanage that was isolated and challenged” and World Bank staff.

He also said that Jamaica’s current policy is to return Haitians who arrive there back to their home country, claiming that “the areas they’re going back to in the far south (…) are areas which are relatively calm.”

For its part, the Dominican Republic, which shares a land border with Haiti, is maintaining strict security measures and, according to the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Carlos Luciano Díaz, is prepared to “face any challenge that may arise.”

The Dominican Republic admitted that it had refused to allow Henry’s plane to land in Santo Domingo, arguing that it did not want to jeopardize its “national security”. EFE

int./ics

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