Violence: American companies banned from flying to Haiti

The United States on Tuesday banned all civilian flights with Haiti for a month, after three planes came under fire the day before, and called on the authorities, including the new prime minister, to resolve the crises plaguing this poor Caribbean country. .

Haiti has been living for months under the violence of armed gangs who control 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince, which was shaken Tuesday by heavy shooting in certain neighborhoods, threats of attacks which caused the closure of schools and Toussaint-Louverture airport.

Airport employees told AFP that their management had asked them not to return before November 18. On Monday, shots hit an Airbus of the American low-cost company Spirit Airlines just before landing in Port-au-Prince. The plane was diverted to the neighboring Dominican Republic.

“Cowardly crime”

What could have been a major air disaster left one crew member lightly injured and bullet holes were visible on the cabin and in the cabin of the plane, according to videos posted on social media.

Tuesday evening, the American companies American Airlines and JetBlue revealed that two of their planes departing Monday from Port-au-Prince to, respectively, Miami and New York also each had a bullet hole.

They suspended their connections between the two countries for weeks and the American federal aviation regulator (FAA), for its part, banned “United States civil aviation operations on the territory and in the Haitian airspace below 10,000 feet for a period of 30 days.

Summoned to act by the International Air Transport Association (Iata), the Presidential Transition Council (CPT), head of the Haitian executive in the absence of a president since 2021, condemned “this cowardly crime which threatens security and the sovereignty of Haiti (and) aims to isolate our country on the international scene.

American pressure

In fact, the incident occurred at the time of the inauguration on Monday of the new Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a businessman who replaces Garry Conille, who had only stayed five months. Appointed by the CPT, he “committed” to “restore security” and promised to “work tirelessly (…) for political cohesion”.

This is precisely what the United States has asked for. “The immediate needs of the Haitian people require that the transitional government prioritize governance over competition between the personal interests of political actors,” the State Department warned.

Washington, historically very involved in the repeated crises hitting Haiti, including militarily, however “welcomed the commitment” of the authorities to “strengthen security, governance and which opens the way towards free and fair elections”.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, through his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, also “reiterated his call to all Haitian protagonists to work together constructively.” But he clarified that “all UN flights have been suspended, obviously limiting the influx of humanitarian aid and personnel.”

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