The U.S. military instructed selected Marine squads to protect the American embassy in Haiti and evacuate non-essential personnel after scores of highly armed gang fighters attempted to take control of the political district of Port-au-Prince
The helicopter operation was carried out in the middle of the night at the State Department’s request for heightened embassy security, according to a statement from the U.S. Southern Command.
The airlift comes in the midst of persistent gang attacks in Tabarre, the home of the US embassy in Port-au-Prince, and other areas surrounding the city. On February 29, Haitian gangs mounted an attack to overthrow the government, besieging key areas including the port and airport.
Ariel Henry, the prime minister, was abroad when the uprising started and is now stuck in Puerto Rico. However, a US official issued a warning last week that his unpopular administration may topple “at any time.”
As scores of criminals gathered on Champ de Mars, a palm-lined central district of Port-au-Prince that houses Haiti’s supreme court, official presidential mansion, government offices, embassies, consulates, banks, and hotels, the gang uprising grew more violent late on Friday.
The criminals had begun a “systematic operation,” according to the daily Le Nouvelliste, to expel police from Port-au-Prince’s key area.
Although it looked as though police were still in charge in the Champ de Mars neighborhood on Sunday, foreign countries have advised their nationals to evacuate Haiti as they are concerned that Henry’s beleaguered government may fall apart within days or even hours.
Since Henry assumed the position of interim president and prime minister following Jovenel Moïse’s killing in 2021, Haiti’s security situation has steadily become worse. Over 80% of Port-au-Prince has been now seized by politically linked gangs that extort, smuggle drugs, and commit abduction.
