Haitian leaders in South Florida are coming together days after armed gangs have plunged the country into near anarchy.
On Tuesday, Haitian organizations and leaders across Miami-Dade County held an emergency press conference, hoping to come up with solutions on how to make life better for people living in Haiti.
Tony Jeanthenor with the Haitian rights group Veye Yo is trying to remain hopeful. Last week, his uncle went to visit his sick mother in Haiti but ran into violent gang members terrorizing the country, he said.
“Now he went to Haiti to see his mom, the gang has him right now while I'm talking now,” Jeanthenor said. “Your family is calling you crying, unable to sleep, no food to eat — this is crazy, this is terrible.”
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Jeanthenor says those gangs are now holding his uncle for ransom and asking for a lot of money.
“We don't have that money,” Jeanthenor said.
Jeanthenor, like many others in South Florida, is tired, frustrated and outraged as the violence in Haiti gets worse. Now, there's a call to action.
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Several Haitian leaders and organizations are asking the Biden administration to stop the flow of weapons to Haiti, reinforce national police, and stop foreign intervention.
“Intervention never works, never helps us build any schools, hospitals,” Jeanthenor said.
Several flights between Miami/Fort Lauderdale and Port-Au-Prince were canceled Tuesday. The day before, armed gangs tried to seize control of Haiti's main international airport, which is considered the biggest attack on the airport in the country's history. Over the weekend, armed gangs stormed two prisons, freeing thousands of inmates.
Haiti is under a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew is in place. People are robbing banks and government offices and Haiti’s prime minister Ariel Henry is notably absent, unable to get home and is now in Puerto Rico.
Schools are closed and public transportation is at a standstill. The country seems to be essentially in control of gangs.
“Haiti has gone from crisis to crisis,” said Hudes Desrameaux, the president of the Haitian American Democratic Club of Miami-Dade County. “It pains all of us to see what's going on.”
“Just like what's happening in Gaza is no different than what's going on in Haiti now,” Jeanthenor said. “People are dying like crazy, people can't sleep in the homes.”
The U.S. Embassy stopped all travel to the country and is urging Americans to leave as soon as possible.
