Partial reopening of the airport, the port, some schools… In Haiti, three months after an explosion of violence perpetrated by gangs who sowed chaos in Port-au-Prince, the capital, the signs heralding the return of better days follow one another in the Caribbean country in the grip of a deep political and security crisis.
Monday, May 20, the Haitian airline Sunrise Airways resumed operations at Toussaint-Louverture international airport, closed to commercial flights since March 4 following a series of simultaneous attacks. A first plane to Miami took off during the day. The regional carrier provided, as planned, a second connection on Wednesday to Florida, guaranteeing a gradual return of international services from the Haitian capital, in addition to domestic flights. The American companies JetBlue and American Airlines, for their part, suggested that their flights to Haiti would not resume until June, after several postponements since March.
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While the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area is still 80% controlled by these armed gangs who have been increasing abuses in the country for several years, some schools in the capital reopened at the beginning of May; they had been closed since February 29. “For the first time in weeks, I see many students in uniform on the streets in the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince. Schools have resumed their activities and students are heading back to class”welcomed, on May 7, Frantz Duval, editor-in-chief of the daily The Nouvelliste https://twitter.com/Frantzduval/status/1787895542225252364. “Without a word from the authorities”added the journalist, to emphasize that this timid improvement owes nothing to the country’s leaders.
At the end of May, the maritime carrier CMA CGM will in turn resume its calls at the port of Lafiteau, around twenty kilometers from the capital. At the end of March, the French group ceased its activities in this secondary port to which it had retreated, after attacks by armed gangs and looting of containers at the Port-au-Prince port terminal. “Given the evolution of the situation in Haiti, CMA CGM is pleased to inform you of the reopening of bookings at the Lafiteau terminal with immediate effect”, specified the shipowner on May 3 in a press release. A first container ship will stop there on May 30.
“Very fragile” context
Despite this succession of encouraging news, Haitians remain cautious. “These are signs that give us hope for an improvement in the security situation”, comments Gédéon Jean, executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, a Haitian civil society organization. He nevertheless describes the current context as “very fragile and worrying” because “the gangs continue to sow terror and attack state infrastructure and the population”.
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