U.S. officials are again issuing strong warnings for people not to travel to Haiti as the Caribbean country suffers from violent crime and gang activity.
In a travel advisory on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of State designated Haiti as a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” and said the country has been under a state of emergency since March.
The advisory continued:
Crimes involving firearms are common in Haiti. They include robbery, carjackings, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom. Kidnapping is widespread, and U.S. citizens have been victims and have been hurt or killed. Kidnappers may plan carefully or target victims at random, unplanned times. Kidnappers will even target and attack convoys. Kidnapping cases often involve ransom requests. Victims’ families have paid thousands of dollars to rescue their family members.
Protests, demonstrations, and roadblocks are common and unpredictable. They often damage or destroy infrastructure and can become violent. Mob killings and assaults by the public have increased, including targeting those suspected of committing crimes.
The agency also noted the airport in Port-au-Prince often experiences armed activity that includes robberies and carjackings.
“The U.S. government is very limited in its ability to help U.S. citizens in Haiti. Local police and other first responders often lack the resources to respond to emergencies or serious crime,” the advisory read, adding there is commonly a shortage of gasoline, electricity, medicine, and medical supplies.
On April 30, Haiti’s transitional council dubbed former senate president Edgard Gardy Leblanc Fils as temporary president of the nation and also named former youth minister Fritz Belizaire as interim prime minister, Breitbart News reported.
The leaders are supposed to hold their offices until early 2026 “when the security situation in Haiti will hopefully have been stabilized enough to hold nationwide elections,” the outlet continued:
Belizaire will take over from Michel Patrick Boisvert, the former finance minister named interim prime minister by de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry when he tendered his formal resignation last week.
Haiti has not had an elected leader since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021. Henry took over as the nation’s chief executive after the assassination and became deeply unpopular with the Haitian people, with many viewing him as a corrupt despot who would do anything to cling to power. He resisted holding elections and refused to resign until February, when street gangs plunged the country into bloody chaos while the prime minister was in Africa, effectively exiling him from the country.
In July, France 24 reported that in Port-au-Prince almost three million residents were suffering as the gang war raged.
“The crisis continues despite the arrival of the first Kenyan police officers as part of a UN-backed multinational force to stem the violence,” the outlet said:
Missouri State Rep. Ben Baker’s (R) daughter and son-in-law were killed by gangs in Haiti as they were doing mission work there, Breitbart News reported in May.
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