There was an explosion of violence in Haiti as gang gunmen overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Heavily armed gangs tried to seize control of Haiti’s main international airport on Monday, exchanging gunfire with police and soldiers in the latest attack on key government sites in an explosion of violence that includes a mass escape from the country’s two biggest prisons.

The Toussaint Louverture International Airport was closed when the attack occurred, with no planes operating and no passengers on site.

Associated Press journalists saw an armored truck on the tarmac shooting at gangs to try and prevent them from entering airport grounds as scores of employees and other workers fled from whizzing bullets.

It wasn’t immediately clear as of late Monday whether the attack, which was the biggest one in Haiti’s history involving the airport, was successful.

Last week, the airport was struck briefly by bullets amid ongoing gang attacks, but gangs did not enter the airport nor seize control of it.

The attack occurred just hours after authorities in Haiti ordered a nighttime curfew following violence in which armed gang members overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend.

  • Pohl@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    9 months ago

    I really don’t have a deep knowledge of what is going on here but I am curious about the language we are using. Why “gangs” and not “rebels” or something similar? Seems like these groups are attempting to wrest control of the state. Anybody who has a richer perspective want to help me understand it better?

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      9 months ago

      I watched a video from some of their leaders yesterday. They definitely seemed to want to present themselves as a form of paramilitary/ revolutionary faction.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.todayEnglish
      11·
      9 months ago

      Why “gangs” and not “rebels” or something similar?

      Because until just a couple of weeks ago these people weren’t billing themselves as “Freedom Fighters” or “Rebels” and they sure as shit weren’t acting like them.

      Haiti is a failed state with a blatantly illegitimate Government and it’s descending even further into terminal chaos. With that said I really don’t beleve the Freedom Fighter named “Barbecue” is going to fix anything.

      • Pohl@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        9 months ago

        I wasn’t suggesting these folks are fighting the good fight. Just that once you start taking over the government you aren’t really a street gang anymore, you are a revolutionary force.

        To me at least the word rebel does not mean good guy, it means a person bent on the usurpation of state power. That’s it. A gang is a group of criminals. They can be both, but it sure seems like gang is the less important descriptor.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
      10·
      9 months ago

      There are a lot of smaller criminal street gang factions in Haiti. Their aims are to “do more crimes with fewer consequences.” My gut tells me that they’re not seeking to govern (even wrong-headedly), just to capture control of the state to enhance their criminal enterprises. “Rebels” carries a more neutral connotation; I don’t think that’s warranted here.