Haiti PM flees under gunfire as violence continues to grip nation | Gun Violence News

Ariel Henry was marking Haitian independence day on Saturday when gunfire erupted in northern city of Gonaives.

Gunfire has broken out in the northern Haitian city of Gonaives local media reported, forcing the country’s prime minister to cancel a speech to mark the Caribbean nation’s independence day.

Haitian news outlet Le Nouvelliste reported that Ariel Henry attended mass at a cathedral in Gonaives in the morning on New Year’s Day, which is also when Haiti marks its independence from France in 1804.

However, gunfire broke out between armed civilians and security forces, Le Nouvelliste said, and Henry was unable to give a speech as planned on Saturday, at a public plaza in the city.

Local media reported that one person died and two were injured in the gunfire that forced Henry and others to duck and seek shelter as they walked out of the cathedral.

Dans le cadre de la célébration du 218eme anniversaire de l’indépendance nationale, je participe actuellement, aux côtés de mon Directeur de cabinet et de plusieurs membres du gouvernement, au Te Deum traditionnel qui se déroule, aux Gonaïves à l’église Saint Charles de Borome. pic.twitter.com/dCWhHxuFHO

— Dr Ariel Henry (@DrArielHenry) January 1, 2022

Translation: To mark the celebration of the 218th anniversary of national independence, I’m currently participating, alongside my cabinet director and several members of the government, in a traditional Te Deum at Saint Charles de Borome church in Gonaives.

Reached by The Associated Press news agency, the prime minister’s office said on Monday that “bandits and terrorists” made an attempt on Henry’s life and accused the group of hiding behind walls to attack the convoy and of threatening the bishop by surrounding the church.

“That is intolerable,” the office said, adding that it has issued arrest warrants.

A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police also told AP on Monday that police had secured the area.

Haiti has been gripped by surging gang violence and kidnappings for ransom, especially in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince, as the country sinks into deeper political instability following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July.

Henry, who took office less than two weeks after Moise was killed, has also struggled with legitimacy, with leading Haitian rights activists rejecting the prime minister’s push to hold elections despite the uncertainty plaguing the nation.

Powerful armed gangs have also called on Henry to step down.

On January 1, the streets of Gonaives were largely empty, as was its cathedral, for the traditional independence day celebrations.

Henry referred to the weekend incident in a tweet by thanking the bishop of Gonaives for holding the mass “despite the tense situation that was prevailing in the city”.

In 2020, Moise skipped the trip to Gonaives amid threats of violent protests – and Le Nouvelliste said Henry’s attendance at the mass was “an act that no political authority was able to make in the last four years”.

In a statement in Haitian Creole shared on Sunday on Twitter, Henry said: “Today, our enemies, the enemies of the Haitian people, are the terrorists who do not hesitate to use violence to kill people with all their might, or to kidnap, take away their freedom, to rape them. And do everything for money.”

Henry has pledged to crack down on gangs that authorities have blamed for a spike in kidnappings and for blocking gas distribution terminals in a move that caused a severe fuel shortage in recent months.

The worsening security situation prompted the United States and Canadian governments in November to urge their citizens to leave Haiti.

In addition to the gang violence, the country has struggled to rebuild in the aftermath of a devastating, magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck in August. Dozens of people also were killed in a recent fuel tanker explosion in the northern city of Cap-Haitien.