Haiti: Gangs Exchange Fire With US Marines

Gangs control 90% of Haiti’s capital, where they extort businesses and fight for territory, using heavy weaponry.

The United States continues to operate an embassy in Haiti, but in recent years the State Department has issued numerous warnings telling Americans not to travel there, due to the risk of kidnappings, crimes, terrorist activity and civil unrest.

According to the United Nations, gang violence has displaced more than 1.3 million Haitians from their homes in recent years.

Security in the nation of nearly 12 million people has deteriorated rapidly since 2021, when President Jovenel Moise was a ssassinated in his home by mercenaries.

The president’s murder has generated a power vacuum that politicians in the nation have struggled to fill, and no elections have been held to replace Moise.

A smaller force of police officers from Kenya has struggled to contain gangs, which killed 5,600 people last year, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office.