A view of the Toussaint Louverture international airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. —AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday that it will prohibit US airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot a Spirit Airlines plane and the United Nations will temporarily suspend flights to Port-au-Prince, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country.
Bullets hit the Spirit plane when it was about to land Monday in the country’s capital, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane.
Article continues after this advertisementThe shooting was part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country plagued by gang violence swore in its new prime minister after a politically tumultuous process.
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION Duterte dares ICC to begin probe immediately: 'Baka mamatay na ako' GLOBALNATION Palace: Duterte free to surrender to ICC if he wishes GLOBALNATION Palau president says China flouting its ocean boundariesREAD: New Haiti PM sworn in as airliner hit by gunfire
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operation during the violence Monday. The Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until Nov. 18, and Dujarric said the UN will divert flights to the country’s second airport in the northern, more peaceful, city of Cap Haïtien.
Article continues after this advertisementSlashed access to the epicenter of the violence, Port-au-Prince, is likely to be devastating as gangs choking the life out of the capital have pushed Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that cutting off flights would mean “limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country.”
Article continues after this advertisement Postponed, cancelledAlready, a movement of 20 trucks filled with food and medical supplies in the south had been postponed and an operation providing cash assistance to a thousand people in the Carrefour area where violence broke out had to be canceled.
Article continues after this advertisement“We are doing all we can to ensure the continuation of operations amidst this challenging environment,” he said. “We call for an end to the escalating violence, to allow for safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access.”
On Tuesday, life in much of Haiti’s capital was frozen after the wave of violence. Heavily armed police in armored cars outside the airport checked trucks used for public transportation passing by.
Article continues after this advertisementSchools were closed, as were banks and government offices. Streets, where just a day before gangs and police were locked in a fierce firefight, were eerily empty, with few driving by other than a motorcycle with a man who had been shot clinging to the back.
The sounds of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets in the afternoon—a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haiti’s elites and a strong push by the international community to restore peace, the country’s toxic slate of gangs kept its firm hold on much of the Caribbean nation.
Neither the former interim prime minister, Garry Conille, nor the newly inaugurated Alix Didier Fils-Aimé commented on the violence.
But Luis Abinader, who as president of the neighboring Dominican Republic has cracked down on Haitian migration, called firing on the airplane terrorism.
“This was a terrorist act; the countries that are following and helping Haiti should declare these armed gangs as terrorist groups,” Abinader said in a news conference.
Gangs control 85% of the capitalThe United Nations estimates that gangs control 85 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a U.N. peacekeeping mission.
The violence comes after a transitional council, tasked with restoring democratic order to Haiti, which hasn’t held elections since 2016, decided to fire Conille, who often was at odds with the council during his six months in office. The council rapidly swore in businessman Fils-Aimé as the new interim prime minister.
Conille originally called the move illegal, but on Tuesday acknowledged Fils-Aimé’s appointment in a post on the social media platform X.
“(I) wish him success in fulfilling this mission. At this crucial moment, unity and solidarity are essential for our country. Long live Haiti!” he wrote.
Fils-Aimé promised to work with international partners to restore peace and hold long awaited elections, a vow also made by his predecessor.
But many Haitians, like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre, have little taste for the political fighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to continue expanding their control.
Jean-Pierre was among those to brave the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell the plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes she carried in a basket on her head. She had no choice, she said—selling was the only way she could feed her children.
“What good is a new prime minister if there’s no security, if I can’t move freely and sell my goods?” she said, nodding to her basket of vegetables. “This is my bank account. This is what my family depend on.”
It was a frustration that concerned international players that have pushed for a peaceful resolution in Haiti like the UN and the US.
On Tuesday, the US State Department lamented that Conille and the council “were unable to move forward in a constructive manner” and called on Fils-Aimé and the council to provide a clear action plan outlining a joint vision on how to decrease violence and pave the path for elections to be held to “prevent further gridlock.”
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
“The acute and immediate needs of the Haitian people mandate that the transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actorsvola,” it wrote in a statement. —AP
READ NEXT Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million 35 killed, dozens wounded in south China car ramming EDITORS' PICK Hints point to Belle Mariano singing Filipino version of ‘Moana 2’ track LIVE UPDATES: Typhoon Ofel Manila Water champions sustainability with climate change policy Duterte: I killed 6 or 7 people in Davao, including erring cops BARMM election code, IRR violate PH Constitution – Escudero Regulators seize control of cash-strapped EQworld MOST READ PH summons Chinese envoy to protest Bajo de Masinloc baselines Duterte defies VP Sara’s appeal to excuse him from hearing Questions directed to Duterte had ‘wrong premises’ – Panelo LIVE UPDATES: Typhoon Ofel Follow @FMangosingINQ on Twitter --> View comments