The Haitian government has still not announced anything regarding the return date of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, threatened with being dismissed by armed gangs who have been creating a climate of terror in Haiti for several days.
However, at the end of a press briefing this Monday, the spokesperson for the State Department, Matthew Muller was invited to react on the Haiti file. Responding to a question from a journalist on the situation and the return of the Prime Minister to Haiti, he affirms that Ariel Henry will return to Port-au-Prince without however giving a date.
The US is closely monitoring the situation in Haiti, he said, and condemns gang movements aimed at further destabilizing the country and taking control of it. “We understand that the Prime Minister will return to the country. We think it is important that he does it and that he is allowed to do it,” Matthew Muller responded. However, he failed to say whether the American government will help him return to Haiti during his press briefing at the State Department on Monday.
Matthew Muller recalls that many of those responsible for the increase in violence in Haiti have been sanctioned by the United States under the Global Magnitsky Act and sanctions programs against drug traffickers, as well as by other members of the international community. “And I think the actions taken by gang members in recent days show exactly why they were so designated. And it also highlights the urgency of finalizing the Multinational Security Support Mission to help the Haitian National Police deal with the dire security situation on the ground,” he continued.
Regarding the embassy, the State Department spokesperson specifies that it will remain open. The embassy will operate on a limited basis, with no public services available for the first three days of this week due to continued violence in Port-au-Prince, Matthew Muller said.
Ariel Henry left the country on Sunday February 25 for Georgetown, Guyana, to participate in the 46th Caricom meeting, before going “to Nairobi, Kenya, to finalize the modalities for the deployment of the MMSS [ Mission multinationale de soutien à la sécurité] with Kenyan authorities and those of other countries on the African continent. A week later, no news from the government as to the return date of the Prime Minister, threatened with being dismissed by armed gangs who have been creating a climate of terror in Haiti for several days.
According to information from the Miami Herald, Toussaint Louverture airport was attacked by bandits on Monday, repelled by the national police and the armed forces of Haiti.
By Gazette Haiti News
