GUATEMALA CITY Numerous governmental and humanitarian organizations said on Saturday that their buildings and relief supplies have been robbed as Haiti descends into anarchy once more amid a fresh wave of gang violence.
In recent weeks, gangs have rampaged across Haiti, targeting important establishments and closing the main international airport. Many Haitians are on the verge of starvation as a result of the upheaval, and many more are living in ever-desperate circumstances.
UNICEF reported on Saturday that a container it had filled with “essential items for maternal, neonatal, and child survival, including resuscitators and related equipment” had been stolen from the main port in Port-au-Prince, the capital, which had been broken into by gangs the previous week.Bruno Maes, the UNICEF representative in Haiti, stated in a statement that “looting of supplies that are essential for life-saving support for children must end immediately and humanitarian access must remain safe.”
According to the relief organization, the looting and general violence have further cut off basic supplies from some of the most vulnerable citizens in the country, coming “at a critical moment when children need them the most.”
The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry reported that day that the offices of its honorary consul in Haiti had been ransacked; however, it did not specify the extent of the damage or the identity of the perpetrator.
Only “paperwork and documentation of the last four or five years had been previously transferred,” according to the ministry, to the Guatemalan Embassy for Haiti, situated in the Dominican Republic, a neighbor.
Although chaos is nothing new in Haiti, the present unrest has been especially brutal. The violence has caused chaos in Haiti’s administration and led Prime Minister Ariel Henry to announce his resignation, which is a major demand from the gangs.
To bolster security at the American Embassy and allay rumors that senior U.S. government officials would be departing, the United States has flown in military personnel.The U.S. State Department said that it will be providing limited charter flights for American citizens from the less chaotic northern city of Cap-Haïtien, even though Haiti’s major airport in Port-au-Prince remains closed due to gang attacks. However, it issued a warning, saying that Americans should only contemplate about taking the flights “if you think you can reach Cap-Haïtien airport safely.”
