by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The government of Haiti on Sunday declared a “renewable” 72-hour state of emergency after armed gangs stormed three police stations and two prisons , freeing 3,700 prisoners and leading to the deaths of 12 people. The government added that the gangs’ acts of “disobedience” were a threat to national security.
The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the 11 million-strong Caribbean nation of Haiti has been wracked with extreme political instability, rampant, insidious gang violence, and natural disasters for decades. Most recently, the country has suffered violent unrest since the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The New York Times has reported that Moïse’s assassination may have been connected to his efforts to restrict narcotics trafficking and plans to expose the involvement of high-ranking Haitian officials involved in the Haitian drug trade.
Sunday’s emergency was triggered by Gang leaders who want to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was traveling abroad at the time. Gang leader and former police officer Jimmy Chérizier said in a statement: “All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united.” Gangs now control around 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.
Of the two prisons stormed, one was a major jail in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and the other was in neighboring Croix des Bouquets, BBC News reported.
In a statement the Haitian government said Sunday that, in order to restore order, it had imposed an immediate renewable 72-hour curfew throughout the West territory. “[The curfew will apply] between six in the evening and five in the morning on Monday 4, Tuesday 5, Wednesday 6 and this Sunday, March 3 2024,” the government said.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The Trump administration has finalized a sweeping reciprocal trade agreement with Taiwan, confirming a 15 percent U.S. tariff rate on Taiwanese imports while securing broad new market access and purchase commitments for American goods.
Democrats are applauding White House border czar Tom Homan’s Thursday announcement that immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota will end next week.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate tanked the Homeland Security full-year funding bill in a last-ditch vote Thursday, all but guaranteeing a partial government shutdown starting Saturday.
Mourners in a remote Canadian town grappled Thursday with the aftermath of one of the country’s deadliest school shootings in decades, as families, survivors and leaders reacted to the tragedy that left eight victims — most of them children — dead, along with the 18-year-old suspect.
A gunman who opened fire at a school in southern Thailand’s Hat Yai city on Wednesday wounded a teacher and a student before being detained, authorities said, in a rare attack that sent students and staff into panic.
The Republican-led House of Representatives has passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, advancing legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification at the polls. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future remains uncertain amid strong Democratic opposition.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that its advanced David’s Sling air and missile defense system has completed a series of complex modernized tests, a development officials say bolsters the country’s defensive posture as tensions with Iran escalate and the United States prepares military options that could include direct strikes.