Haiti's main port was forced to close Thursday due to sabotage after days of worsening gang violence that have plunged the country into chaos and left the prime minister unable to return from abroad. Caribbean Port Services, the sole operator of the port in Haiti's capital city Port-au-Prince, cited "malicious acts of sabotage and vandalism" as it announced the decision to suspend all services.
The Haiti government on Thursday extended a state of emergency by one month, covering the west of the country, which includes the capital city – but gangs control large swathes of residential areas. The UN's humanitarian office warned that the health system was "nearing collapse," with many facilities closing or reducing services and a shortage of medicine and staff.
It called for an end to violence to allow aid to enter the country, and reported a lack of "blood, beds and staff to treat patients with gunshot wounds." Gangs again targeted police late Wednesday by setting fire to a headquarters in Bas-Peu-de-Chose, a neighborhood in the capital. Officers escaped before the attack, which also destroyed several police vehicles, according to Haiti's police union Synapoha.
The criminal groups went on the offensive last week while Prime Minister Henry traveled abroad, beginning with an assault on two prisons that allowed the majority of inmates to escape. Synapoha said that 10 police stations have been destroyed, and at least 15,000 people are estimated to have fled the worst-hit parts of Port-au-Prince.
The UN Security Council met in New York on Wednesday to discuss the "critical" situation, while the United States has called on Prime Minister Henry to take steps to resolve the crisis. Secretary of State Antony Blinken then spoke Thursday to Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to ask for an "urgent" political transition, said a US official, who called for a major global response to the impoverished nation's crisis. Blinken spoke with Henry about "the urgent need to accelerate the transition to a broader, more inclusive government today," Brian Nichols, the top US diplomat for the Western hemisphere, said.
In power since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, Henry was due to leave office in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held. When the latest unrest broke out, Henry was in Kenya to negotiate a UN-backed multinational police mission to stabilize his country. He has not commented on the surge in unrest and was last confirmed to be in the US territory of Puerto Rico.