AMERICA/HAITI - Instability and violence: "Missionaries literally risk their lives every day"

Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Port-au-Prince (Agenzia Fides) - "Continuing to work, to keep the hospital in Port-au-Prince open and to continue with all the activities we have in Haiti is becoming more and more difficult and the Missionaries literally risk their lives every day," writes Fr. Antonio Menegón, a Camillian missionary.

The news that comes from Haiti is alarming and documents the daily tragedy in which the population is forced to live.

A few lines, sent late at night by Fr. Erwan, MI, from Port-au-Prince, are the cry of a wounded land and an abandoned people. "Armed gangs have blocked everything. Aristide's party took power, sending Prime Minister Ariel Henry home. This is very serious. Now no one knows how this will end.
Let's hope for the best," writes the missionary.

On November 10, 2024, the Haitian government announced plans to replace acting Prime Minister Conille with businessman and former Senate candidate Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. As Fils-Aimé was sworn in on the morning of November 11, armed gangs attacked Haiti's international airport in Port-au-Prince, which was closed after a US airliner was shot at while landing. The flight was diverted to the Dominican Republic.

The recent transition of power is expected to further destabilize Haiti's political and social climate. Due to increasing political instability, humanitarian organizations fear that armed groups will take advantage of Haiti's vulnerable state. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 13/11/2024)


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