(NewsWorthy.news) – The U.S. military has sent forces into Haiti to support security at its embassy and aid evacuations of non-essential personnel. The U.S. Southern Command revealed that the aircraft flew to the embassy compound, meaning that helicopters were involved.
The announcement was careful to stress that no Haitians were onboard to avoid any speculation that Haitian officials had fled the country. Violence escalated further in the Haiti capital of Port-au-Prince after an estimated 3,700 inmates overran and escaped the country’s largest prison. The leaders of Haiti’s gangs are demanding the resignation of the country’s absent Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who traveled to Kenya to discuss the provision of police officers to Haiti.
Despite frantic calls from Haitian diplomats for aid, the U.S. said it would not be putting “boots on the ground” to support the Haitian police’s security operations. Rights groups have stressed that extended state of emergency measures, which include nightly curfews and bans on protests, have done little to curb the ongoing violence.
The country has faced widespread gang violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 which resulted in a power vacuum and increasing instability in the Caribbean state. Gangs reportedly control 80% of the capital, including the neighborhood surrounding the embassy. Henry recently traveled to Kenya to seek a U.N.-backed supply of a police force to Haiti to control the gangs, but Kenya’s supreme court ruled such a deployment unconstitutional. Henry promised in February to hold a general election by mid-2025.
The prime minister is facing mounting calls for his resignation and is unable to return to Haiti. He arrived in Puerto Rico on March 5 after being refused entry into the Dominican Republic. President Luis Abinader stated that Henry was not welcome in the Dominican Republic due to safety concerns. The country has closed its land border with Haiti.
According to a Southcom statement, the airlifting of personnel into and out of the Haitian embassy is standard practice for global embassy security augmentation. Though non-essential personnel can often include the families of diplomats, Southcom stressed that no Haitians were onboard the aircraft.
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