U.S. forces fly in to beef up security at embassy in Haiti and evacuate nonessential personnel
Source: NBC News/AP
March 10, 2024, 2:09 PM EDT
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti The U.S. military said Sunday that it had flown in forces to beef up security at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and allow nonessential personnel to leave.
The aircraft flew to the embassy compound, the U.S. Southern Command said, meaning that the effort involved helicopters. It was careful to point out that no Haitians were on board the military aircraft. That seemed aimed at quashing any speculation that senior government officials might be leaving as the gang attacks in Haiti worsen.
The neighborhood around the embassy in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is largely controlled by gangs. This airlift of personnel into and out of the Embassy is consistent with our standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft, according to the Southcom statement.
In many cases, nonessential personnel can include the families of diplomats, but the embassy had already ordered departure for nonessential staff and all family members in July. The personnel ferried out of the embassy may have simply been rotating out, to be refreshed by new staff. The statement Sunday said that the United States remains focused on aiding Haitian police and arranging some kind of U.N.-authorized security deployment. But those efforts have been unsuccessful so far.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-forces-fly-beef-security-embassy-haiti-evacuate-nonessential-person-rcna142672
EndlessWire
(6,573 posts)a little bit about Haiti. Those poor people. Between nature's calamities and drug gangs, they have a tough row to hoe. Those gangs are destroying Haiti's future.
BumRushDaShow
(129,737 posts)but that 2010 earthquake just took it all to a whole new level because it has been difficult to recover from that, and it basically lead to what would be a complete breakdown in authority, governmental instability, and the chaos of "gang control" of resources afterwards.