PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) 鈥 Haiti's Justice Ministry called Tuesday for a boost in security for Prime Minister Garry Conille and other Cabinet officials in response to unspecified threats that they could be targeted by malicious parties.
The ministry did not provide details other than to say it had 鈥渃onsistent and persistent鈥 information that the top officials might be targeted by unnamed actors intent on sowing 鈥渢rouble and panic in the country.鈥 The ministry urged police and judicial authorities to take 鈥渁ppropriate measures鈥 to guarantee the officials' safety.
Neither judicial authorities nor the office of the prime minister returned messages for comment.
The statement from the Justice Ministry comes as of Haiti's capital that aren't already under gang control, just months after a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police began. More than 4,000 people have been left homeless in the recent attacks targeting communities in Port-au-Prince including Solino and Tabarre 27.
The escalation in violence began nearly a week ago and is blamed on a gang coalition called 鈥淰iv Ansanm,鈥 which was responsible for large-scale attacks that began in February e. Those attacks led to the eventual resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
鈥淗aiti鈥檚 politics and violence are deeply interconnected," said Diego Da Rin, a Haiti analyst with the International Crisis Group, who added that the allegations of threats against the current Haitian leaders were 鈥渟erious and demand swift action.鈥
"Times of escalating governance crises have often coincided with a rise in armed group activity,鈥 Da Rin said.
The Justice Ministry鈥檚 warning has raised concerns especially given that at his private residence in July 2021, unleashing a period a political turmoil in the country.
In an interview Monday with Magik9 radio station, Justice Minister Carlos Hercule blamed unspecified 鈥渇orces of darkness鈥 that operated in Haiti 20 years ago for fueling the current gang violence.
鈥淲e have information,鈥 he said, without providing details. 鈥淎t every moment of calm, they have formed a coalition with ex-convicts, delinquents who enjoy carrying illegal firearms," Hercule said.
The U.S. government and others have warned that the U.N.-backed mission trying to quell gang violence is lacking funds and personnel, with the U.S. proposing it become a U.N. peacekeeping mission, a call backed by the former leader of Haiti's transitional presidential council.
On Monday, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America and the Caribbean condemned the ongoing gang violence.
鈥淚ndividuals who aim to destabilize Haiti for personal gain should be more concerned for Haiti and its people,鈥 Brian A. Nichols, the U.S. Department of State's assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs, wrote on X.
He also warned it was not the time for political infighting, a reference to recent spats between Conille and some of the nine members who make up the transitional presidential council.
